Sir, – Regardless of which League of Ireland club football fans here follow, Pico Lopes of Shamrock Rovers deserves our support at this World Cup.
We should be delighted for Cape Verde (who Pico, a Crumlin native, qualifies to play for through his father) who came out of Group H despite it containing former World Cup winners Spain and Uruguay.
Pico and Cape Verde’s reward – a last 32 tie against defending champions Argentina in Miami on Friday (11pm). Although we haven’t been to a World Cup since 2002, we have a link to this one, and a link to the last one, thanks to Alexis Mac Allister’s Irish ancestry.
Sharing in these moments represents a rare and welcome opportunity for League of Ireland fans to come together, in the absence of us being at the tournament ourselves. – Yours, etc,
RM Block
BRIAN QUIGLEY,
45 Bantry Road,
Drumcondra Dublin 9.
