The Irish fans were still singing their hearts out in the centre of Dublin yesterday despite losing a match they felt they really deserved to win, writes Nuala Haughey
Disappointed Ireland fans greeted their narrow defeat at the hands of the Spanish with good grace in Dublin city yesterday afternoon.
In pub after pub in the Temple Bar area, dejected supporters overcame their low spirits by belting out the chorus of the ubiquitous U2 ballad, Sunday Bloody Sunday.
"I can't believe the news today. Oh, I can't close my eyes and make it go away," sang the crowd in the basement of the All Sports Cafe on Fleet Street.
While the fans may have wanted dearly to wish away the exit of McCarthy's team from the World Cup, they were full of praise for its gutsy performance.
Ms Susan Ferris from Co Armagh travelled to the sports bar with Northern friends to capture the Dublin buzz. The dramatic penalty shoot-out was "nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat stuff," said the 25-year-old social worker from Mowhan.
"I was disappointed because we deserved to win, but the atmosphere and the craic here is just brilliant. The Irish spirit is never dead no matter what," she added.
In the Bridge Bar on Westmoreland Street, the green white and orange balloons festooning the bannisters looked as deflated as the fans.
Mr Paul Lowe, a 27-year-old electrician from north Wales, made the trip to Dublin with his girlfriend to cheer on his fellow Celts. He wore tricolour boxer shorts over his jeans, but his Mohican haircut was oddly reminiscent of David Beckham's.
"I thought Ireland was the best team, but they need to practice their penalties," he said, refusing to get drawn into singling out any players for blame. "Everybody misses penalties," he said. "Who do I blame? I blame the Spanish goalkeeper."
As Wales has never qualified for the World Cup, Mr Lowe said he would be switching allegiance to England for the quarter-finals. "I was hoping for an Irish-English final, it would have been a dream come true," he said. "But I would have had to sit on the fence for that one."
By the time the downcast Ireland fans began heading home in the rain, the Irish flags, funny hats and huge inflatable hammers were already reduced to half price in the shops.
One street trader touting for business encouraged passers-by to buy now - for the European Championship in 2004.
In the Mercantile Bar on Dame Street, the doormen had to separate a male and female fan who started to take their mock combat with a giant hammer and oversized green hand a bit too seriously.
Outside, Ms Jackie Powles and her hen party were pondering where they would continue their pub crawl. The Birmingham woman and her friends had swapped their veils and L plates for huge green leprechaun hats and green T-shirts. "I was going to put my veil on top of my hat this morning but I was too drunk," said Ms Powles, who is due to kick-off her marital life on July 20th.
For some beer-sodden fans the reality of the defeat didn't seem to have sunk in. O'Connell Street was filled with James Joyce lookalikes celebrating Bloomsday, one of whom proclaimed that "You'll never beat the Irish".