Shamrock Rovers XI v Brazil

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The Shamrock Rovers XI v Brazil an association of soccer friendly matches played at Lansdowne Road in Dublin, Ireland, on 3 July 1973 between the Brazilian national team and the team billed as "Shamrock Rovers XI", composed of international players Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Brazil won the game 4-3; This is the first time in eight years any team scored three goals against them. The match is the only one played since 1950 by a team representing the entire Irish island, although the name "Ireland" was changed to "Shamrock Rovers XI" after the objection of the Irish Football Association.

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The match was played at the top of The Troubles in Northern Ireland as a gesture of friendship and solidarity. Louis Kilcoyne, owner of the domestic Shamrock Rovers football team, persuaded JoÃƒÆ'Ã‚ Â£ Havelange of the Brazil FA to enter the match against "Ireland XI" on the itinerary for their nine summer tour of Europe, reportedly promising him Football Association of Irish votes (FAI) in the 1974 election to the FIFA President.

Kilcoyne's brother-in-law and Republican team captain Johnny Giles and Derek Dougan from Northern Ireland are friendly to each other. They support the project and persuade many of their teammates to participate.

The Irish Football Association (IFA) opposes the match, viewing it as setting precedents that might encourage the IFA movement to join the FAI. Furthermore, the Irish Republic manager Liam Tuohy, who also manages the team, later revealed that the FAI also has objections. In honor of this issue, "Ireland XI" should be called "Shamrock Rovers" selection, after the Leading League of Irish clubs connected to the Kilcoyne family. (In fact, all teams play in the English league.) Also, only the national anthem of Brazil and flags are sung and displayed, although A Nation Once Again is one of the songs in pre-match entertainment..

Derek Dougan alleged that IFA President Harry Cavan had instructed Northern Irish manager Terry Neill not to pick him up in the future because of his involvement in arranging this match, ending his international career. However, Dougan did not appear in any of the five Northern Ireland matches before the game in Dublin, failing to score in one of the last ten international matches in which he played and, at the age of 35, he was in the twilight of his career. Indeed, he had to retire from playing full time football less than two seasons later.

None of the five other Northern Irish players playing in this game suffer bad consequences for their international careers. Three of them (Jennings, Hamilton and O'Neill) later became Northern Ireland captains, and Hamilton was also appointed manager.

Despite the lack of support from the two FAs on the island, after the match the FAI contacted IFA on the possibility of reuniting the two associations. IFA unanimously approved the negotiations, the first held about the possibility of a merger since 1932. Nine IFA-FAI conferences were held between 1973 and 1980, with seven of which occurred between 1978 and 1980. Nevertheless, the proposal did not come to fruition: the reasons for failure including the prospect of diminishing incomes from international matches with the presence of an Irish team, ongoing violence (including unrest between the Northern Ireland team Linfield FC and Dundalk FC Republic in the European Cup tie at Dundalk's Oriel Park in 1979), and an increase in success for Northern Ireland ( during the early to mid-1980s) and the Republic of Ireland (in the late 1980s and early 1990s).

The results of the match go to UNICEF and the Irish Cancer Society.

The match was featured on the television program, Monday Night Soccer , on April 7, 2008.

Maps Shamrock Rovers XI v Brazil

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