– Mother-in-Law preferred to Taoiseach
– Fans confident of success in next World Cup campaign
6 July 2010 – A survey conducted by Continental Tyres, Official Sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, has found that soccer pundit, Eamon Dunphy, is Irish fans’ first choice as couch companion for this week’s World Cup final clash.
More than a third (35%) of all respondents chose Dunphy as the person with whom they would most like to watch the final, with the other members of RTE’s dream team – John Giles, Ronnie Whelan and Liam Brady – in that order, being the next most popular.
Our Taoiseach, unfortunately, didn’t fare as well as the RTE panel – when asked ‘Who would you LEAST like to watch the final with?’, 38% plumped for Brian Cowen, while just 11% said that their mother-in-law is the one they would rather avoid when the football comes on the TV.
Ireland fans are confident of a bright future under boss Giovanni Trapattoni – almost 9 out of 10 believe the team will make the next World Cup Finals, in Brazil in 2014.
Most fans opted for Ray Houghton’s goal against Italy in 1994 as their favourite World Cup memory, well ahead of Packie Bonner’s penalty save against Romania in Italia 90.