The translation for non speaking Irish is, “Thank you very much Ireland”. And that was the message from the US Soccer Federation representative Tom King. This came in the form of a letter to the FAI to thank the Irish fans and players who raised €275,000 for victims of the September 11 attacks.
As previously advised on this website’s “current news” section 13/04/02, The players donated their match winning bonus’s earned in November 2001, in world cup qualification. And a collection was made during the Denmark friendly in March of this year, with monies donated by the Iriah Fans.(See archive news section on the current news page)
The presentation was made to the American delegation before the USA game during April of this year. The letter’s content read:
"Thank you very much indeed for the gracious hospitality extended to our entire delegation. We sincerely appreciated all that you did to make the stay a good one for the team.
The cheque presentation which was shown during the US TV broadcast received fantastic response here in the US…the gesture from the players and the FAI was absolutely brilliant. Congratulations on a well deserved win and thank you for the warm reception in Dublin. We sincerely look forward to welcoming you back to the United States in the not too distant future."
The U.S.A. National team coach, Bruce Arena went on record saying:
"The game is one thing, the World Cup is another, but the real story in this world is how people get along with each other. On behalf of US Soccer I want to thank the Irish players, the Irish Federation, and the Irish people for their generous support of the many people who were affected by the events of September 11."
The Republic of Ireland beat the U.S.A. on the night by 2-1 at Lansdowne Road, 17/04/02'.
Other current news:
Jack Charlton will NOT be going to Korea with the Republic of Ireland National Soccer Team. Jack was interviewed on BBC Radio 2 yesterday discussing “cholesterol levels”!. Jack made it clear that he was invited, but declined to go to Korea.
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