C'mon Ireland!

Serbia v Ireland.It was a meaningless soccer friendly played by two teams who wouldn't be going to the World Cup. A group of us from the office got tickets and decided to treat it like... well, like a meaningless soccer friendly. That's not a bad thing!First thing's first: a trip to Carroll's. Carroll's is the "leading retailer of quality Irish gifts." They're on every streetcorner in Dublin and seem to play a large role in the Irish economy. If it's green and made in China, you'll probably find it at Carroll's. The boys and I spent about 7 quid per person and exited the store as the true fans we were supposed to be. I went with the glittering leprechaun look.Next up: beer. It's not a proper match without a taste of the spice. Walking into some of the old-man pubs on the way to the arena brought us some stares, sure, but who would dare say something to us for supporting Ireland!?Finally, on to the match. Kinda. We got sidetracked by another pub. Finally, somewhat impressively, we managed to walk through the stadium gates as the kick-off whistle sounded. The beer stand greeted us nearly as quickly as we greeted it. A round for the five of us and we headed to our seats.Only... no beers allowed in the seats, only out on the concourse. Apparently, Irish soccer fans have a bit of a drinking problem. Go figure. We found a spot by a TV (the screen in the pub was better. And cheaper), necked our beers, then finally made our way to the seats.On the way in, I wished the ticket-taker a "Happy St Patrick's Day" in the most American accent possible. "You're a bit early lad.""What are you talking about?! Look at all this green!""Sorry lad, you'll have to wait until the 16^th.""The 16^th, eh...? Riiiiiight..."In the end, we probably saw about 40 minutes of the match. But those were easily the most important of the 90 minutes of the 90 minute match! Serbia won 1:2, yet we managed more beers than goals, which is the stat that really matters.Who ever said a soccer friendly is meaningless?!