DUBLIN, Ireland (A.W.)—Armenia’s glorious and unprecedented march towards Euro 2012 was brought to a halt in Dublin on Oct. 11, when Ireland defeated the Armenian soccer team 2-1.
In the 26th minute, the Armenian team found itself outnumbered on the field when Berezovski was shown the red card.
In the 43rd minute, V. Aleksanyan scored a goal in Armenia’s own net, giving Ireland the lead.
The first half ended 1-0 for Ireland.
In the second half, Ireland scored a goal early on, at the 59th minute, and put the hosts 2 goals ahead.
At this point, the odds were overwhelmingly stacked against Armenia: facing the Irish on their home turf, with only 10 players, and needing three goals to qualify.
In the 62nd minute, Mkhitaryan scored a goal for Armenia. In the 86th minute, Doyle (Republic of Ireland) received a second yellow card and was dismissed.
The Armenian soccer team came to Dublin with high spirits, having won their last 3 matches by scoring 11 goals and receiving only 1.
Armenia needed to win the game to take second place behind Russia in Group B and set itself up for another playoff for Euro 2012, while all Ireland needed was to hold the Armenian side to a draw.
It is ok…
I am still VERY PROUD OF OUR TEAM… GOOOOOOOOOOOOO ARMENIAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
Ther will be plenty of other opportunities…keep working hard and the victory will come…
WE LOVE YOU!!!
Gayane
Proud of the never give up attitude..Just unlucky
We have the Dream Team! That’s much more important!!
We gave it away. but great job. Abrek Dghak.
Congratulations to the Armenian team for a good season and all the improvement.
i would have ok if Ireland had beaten us. but they didnt, they were given the game. if the ref had just remained cool about the whole situation, the scoreline would have been much different. Im so proud of our team and i hope that we go into future tournaments with the attitude of winning.
I agree with Tigran.
It was not a clean win for Ireland.
See the goals for yourself: http://news.am/eng/news/77576.html
Still, these things happen in soccer/football, even during the World Cup.
Nothing one can do. Comes with the territory.
thank you Avery jan for the clip.. it is very obvious that our goal was an absolute excellence… and Ireland had their second goal given to them on a sliver plate… it is unfortunate but it happens…
Our team is the greatest and I will follow them everywhere they go… GO GO GO GO… ARMENIA….:)
Gayane
These comments are too generous. Armenians, in the least, should demand disciplinary action be taken against the referee. There were two blatant mistakes here – the failure to call Cox’s handing of the ball and the incorrect charge that Berezovsky handed the ball. Things do happen (as the Irish experience with France in the last World Cup qualifiers evidences) but that doesn’t mean you just accept it. Clearly, the elimination of Berezovsky was a devastating blow too early in the game. Some things are worth addressing and this referree’s judgement is one of them. Here is to victory in the World Cup qualifiers!!
@Eski Disciplinary action for the referee is a good idea. Football reform to add instant replay review is a better idea.
Agree Eski.. but what are the chances? however, it does not matter.. we should absolutely try to get the referee reprimended.. guess wherever Armenians go, there will always be that jealously factor.. will continue to move forward and get it done.. we are fighters…
Congratulations to the Armenian team for getting as far as they did! You all worked hard. You can’t always win. When politics isn’t involved, expect many good things! Good luck next time!
Don’t worry Robert.. listen can you stop using differet avatars???
we are already winners… as you can see and i know you will deny this as well… Armenians could have won if the referee played it nice.. but unlike you, we know what happened but we are not sore losers like Turkish govt and even sadder losers, Azeris.. we look forward and will continue to fight.. be that in politics or sports.. thank you and have a nice life…
@Arshak I strongly agree with you. This is why there should be reforms in the system and why they should add instant replay reviews. Every other sport has them. Why doesn’t football? Since this is not the first time a referee made such a terrible decision, you’d think that the UEFA would try to minimize incidents like these and improve the game by making some changes (like adding the ability to review calls). Instead, they do nothing and say “Well… it sucks to be in that team”. And so, these incidents get repeated and we have referees deciding matches. One of many reasons why I’m not a football/soccer fan.
Anyways, congratulations Ireland.