Ian O'Sullivan: "The Irish football team is really inspiring"
Ian O'Sullivan told us, how he prepares for the European Football Championship this year. As he told, the thing he loves the most about sport is that you have no idea, who will win, which means hope for every country.
I’m very much looking forward to the Championships...or as we call it the European Cup! I used to play Six-a-Side football and a lot of FIFA so I usually follow at least international football. I don’t have too much free time latterly, ’cause I have a lot of concerts and a job, however, I plan to watch all the Irish matches and as many big matches as I can!
I love to watch them outside, e.g. in Kossuth Square. It is great when there are lots of people, passion and excitement around you and sitting out in the evening heat isn’t bad either… we can’t really experience such thing in Ireland ’cause the weather does not allow it. The Ireland games are harder to watch sometimes though, so I end up with my laptop at home alone shouting at the walls (he laughs).
In Ireland the best choice for cheering is to go out to a pub, or go to a friend’s house and enjoy some food, drink and football. Here though definitely I will be seen out on Kossuth Square getting angry about Pepe falling on the ground at the slightest gust of wind, and the inevitable unjust penalities...
Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira (Pepe)
Obviously I cheer for Ireland, while I hope that Hungary will do it well, too. However, if Ireland go against Hungary, it’s clear who I will go for. I have no idea, who will win, that’s what I love about sport, especially about the Euros. When Greece won in 2004, it showed that anyone can win.. maybe even us!
The Irish team doesn’t have a Ronaldo, or a Zlatan, but they play well as a team and work really hard. It’s inspiring to see how much they’ve achieved in their European campaign so far. We beat Germany once and tied the other time. When you compare this to previous results like us loosing 6-1, it’s just amazing. It’s especially fun now as the new No.1 goalkeeper Darren Randolph was in elementary school with me, so it just gets better and better. I want performances we can be proud of, and getting to a quarter or even semifinals would be huge.
The Hungarian team is similar to the Irish, hard-working and an under-dog. People don’t expect so much from them, but they have some great players like Dzsudzsák who can produce something magical. We’ll see, I was heartbroken along with my Hungarian friends when they didn’t make it in last time after the defeat against Sweden in 2012, so I’m sure they’ll come back with a lot of energy!