Tony Ward: With respect to the others, no sport gets the nation’s blood pumping like soccer

To Ciarán Fitzgerald and George Hamilton can be attributed two of the most widely-used expressions in the history of Irish sport. The “pride” which ‘Fitzy’ referred to was of course en route to a long overdue Triple Crown in ’85, while Hamilton’s “breath” was a collective reflection in that never-to-be-forgotten highlight of highlights at Italia ’90.