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Yes yes you read right! The Irish football team won! Ok… MAYBE you are right… The Irish team was not one of the favourites and it’s not in the running anymore for the rest of the competition. That was already almost clear when the groups were drew… Italy, Belgium and Sweden… With god euh… Zlatan… Really… But they still achieved the exploit to play versus France in the round of 16 after a great victory against Italy. We already knew that it would be hard. Ireland plays on several fronts. In fact the country is a Rugby Nation too and we are really proud that they fought for the group matches! Northern Ireland won’t represent the Emerald Island anymore in the competition neither.
What is sure is that the festive atmosphere in the pubs broadcasting the matches was always and keeps being warm and sound! Usually beer flows abundantly in Ireland and other Irish pubs all around Europe but during the UEFA Euro 2016 it is even stronger. Moreover, there is something that federates people all together in the same place. Supporters in Ireland and in Europe all glow together even if they are not for the same team. And that’s not just in the Irish pubs that it was notice concerning Irish citizens but in the entire European continent!
Let’s watch some of the best scenes of Irish supporters in France where the competitions take place and that warms hearts. Here is a selection of some moments that we are not going to tire of watching!
The first event we heard about was the good-natured atmosphere for the first match of Ireland. Irish and Swedish supporters taunt each other before and after the tie. On the same day they appeared on our feeds with pictures and videos of Irish supporters helping a couple to change a wheel. Nice solidarity!
Irish supporters, mainly men but we can see some women too, don’t hesitate to show their gratitude for welcoming the competition to French people such as to a man at his balcony or French girls on the street.
Some of you maybe saw the video in front of a pub with a girl trying to apply for a job and sing to push hiring. Respectful on every level with the organizers, some Irish supporters tidy up the places where they have celebrated.
We also observed that the favourite supporters or the Euro cup are very grateful to the work of the French police during the competition but in general with the terrible events happened these last months in France. So they don’t hesitate to sing “Stand up for the French police”. Here is one of the videos but you can find a lot on the Internet.
For the fun, Irish supporters sang to a French policewoman “who’s the sexy garda?”, did they definitely fell in love with French police (and girls) ?!
Also, they don’t hesitate to integrate into the French population by showing that they know some of the most important words for French people such as “Baguette” and “pardon”!
A moment that touched most of us was the supporters singing a lullaby for a baby in the tram of Bordeaux.
So it’s official: Ireland won Europe’s Best Supporters title! You see the article title was not (all) wrong! Moreover, the Mayor of Paris confirmed if by deciding after the match France – Ireland to award Irish supporters with the Medal of the City of Paris for their “sportsmanship”.
We hope that Irish supporters will stay a bit in France to watch some matches until the end of the competition!
Here on this link , the Independent.ie has shared a video of both Irish and French football fans before their match against each other celebrating together with joy and good humour!