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28th Mar 2017

The same thing pissed everyone off during friendly between the Republic of Ireland and Iceland

And it's not the trumpet player

Conan Doherty

The football? No-one seems to be all that interested.

The trumpet? Apparently met with a few boos initially but most are just indifferent to it already.

Magnusson’s free kick? Fine. But who really cares? It’s a friendly.

No, the big issue of Tuesday night at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin was the Viking Clap. Or the Thunderclap. Or the Icelandic Clap. Whatever you want to call it.

There was a very, very surreal atmosphere around Lansdowne Road for the visit of the Icelandic outfit – the sort of atmosphere that could only come about three months out from the next meaningful fixture. The sort which wasn’t helped in truth by the omission of the like of Daryl Horgan and Callum O’Dowda from the starting team.

There were plenty of empty seats around the stadium as Martin O’Neill fielded a 4-4-2 and let Kevin Doyle and Jonny Hayes have further chances to put their hands up ahead of the next major tournament – if we get there.

It was an underwhelming first half from the Irish who went in at the break 1-0 down to the opposition having failed to really threaten them at all.

And, in the absence of rapturous chants or constant songs, or anything on the pitch that might excite anyone in the stands, the Irish fans turned to an old favourite that is steeped in rich Celtic tradition dating way back to the summer of 2016. That old favourite was the Icelandic Thunderclap which they did in unison with the away support but it did not go down well.

History.

Avert your eyes.

It’s not THAT bad, is it?

RIP football.

No excuses.

Please make it stop.

Identity crisis.

Just… why?

It’s not right.

But then others were getting pissed off because they feel like the ones who have been robbed.

The anger is real.

He’s said it.