Welcome back to Glasgow.
For the second time in just over a fortnight, the Republic of Ireland are in town for an international derby, with the weather as reliably unreliable as you'd expect - clear and bright, cloudy and wet, mild then cold, calm but breezy.
The rainiest city in the UK doesn’t do extremes (Glasgow, like Ireland, is kept relatively mild due to its proximity to the Gulf Stream); but it’s almost always wet.
As Billy Connolly once said, "there are two seasons in Scotland: June and winter".
Stephen Kenny’s men’s team were sunk 2-1 in the UEFA Nations League here a couple of Saturdays ago, and while Hampden Park won’t be anywhere near full capacity tomorrow night, the Scottish FA are trying their best to get in a healthy crowd despite an unfortunate fixture clash.
Just as Ireland and Scotland kick off tomorrow, Celtic Park will be rammed for the Bhoys' Champions League game against RB Leipzig two miles across the city.
"What do I say about that?" Vera Pauw said. "We know where we stand and that's the reality."
Over 10,000 fans were inside Hampden last Thursday to watch a slog of a match, the rain teeming down throughout as Pedro Martínez Losa’s side ground down the higher-ranked Austrians in a physical encounter.
Abi Harrison - Chloe Mustaki’s team-mate at Bristol City - won it with a header in extra-time (above), and though Pauw wouldn’t admit it, the game unfolded pretty much just as Ireland would have wanted it to.
It was energy sapping and emotionally draining.
"They have played 120 minutes, but there’s four rest days so physically they will be ready," Pauw reflected afterwards. "But yeah, the emotions... we need to see how they handle that."
The Celtic match aside, it will be interesting to see what turnout the
Read more on rte.ie
rte.ie
