Three months ago, as the players of Dundalk gathered in front of a television in the lounge of the Arklow hotel overlooking the Irish Sea, emotions lurched from excitement to trepidation.
They were watching the draw for the group stage of the Europa League. History had been made for the club already, simply to have its name among the 32 clubs involved.
History’s burden meant whatever followed would be daunting. Dundalk, with no history in the competition, and scant co-efficient points because they come from a League of Ireland with little pedigree, were seeded 32nd of the clubs listed.
Some of the players, buoyant from an experience in the qualifying rounds of the Uefa Champions League that had run to within a tie of making the group phase of that tournament, shouted “Bring it on!”.
They wanted a group with Manchester United, or Inter Milan, two conspicuous heavyweights in this season's Europa League.
They got a big name alright. They drew Zenit St Petersburg, officially the second-ranked club in August’s draw, and Uefa Cup winners back in 2008.
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Four fixtures on, incredibly, the Dundalk dream survives. They meet AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands in Dublin on Thursday sitting in runners-up position in Group D. Though their two matches against Zenit went, as it were, according to seeding, the fact that in each case the margin of defeat was a single goal has emboldened Europe’s most intrepid underdogs.
Four points from their remaining two games – the last is away at Maccabi Tel-Aviv – will assure Dundalk a spot in the knockout phase, where they may then have to adjust their ideas of what would constitute the real glamour tie. Neither United, third in Group A going into Matchday 5, nor Inter, bottom of Group K, are currently on course for European football in the new year.
You do not need to look at Uefa co-efficient figures – the mathematical formula based on past performance and relative strength of domestic leagues – to appreciate Dundalk’s pluck since they embarked on their European odyssey back in July.
One striking criteria their charismatic manager, Stephen Kenny, points to is the number of internationals in his own squad next to the teams they have confronted.
The journey started for the champions of Ireland with a tie against Iceland’s Hafnarfjardar, beaten on away goals in the second qualifying round for the Champions League. “They had internationals in the team,” Kenny noted.
He counted 14 players with caps in the squad of BATE Borisov, of Belarus, who were beaten in the next qualifying stage. “Maccabi had 14 internationals, AZ Alkmaar 14, and Zenit had even more,” added Kenny, whose team of uncapped wonders beat the Israelis at home and drew in Alkmaar.
“The first job was to convince our team we have an exceptionally talented group, and can beat these teams,” the manager said.
He may not be in charge of an uncapped XI for long. Since the European adventure gathered pace, defenders Gary Rogers and Andy Boyle and midfielder Daryl Horgan have been called up by the Republic of Ireland, though none have yet come off the bench.
“It is a sad indictment that an Irishman must go abroad if he wants to play for his country,” Kenny said. “The only way to get out of that cycle is to raise standards here.”
Dundalk have done that.
Their win against Maccabi was a first for an Irish club in the group stage of a European competition this century, and a remarkable achievement given the club were on the verge of relegation to the second-tier of the modest League of Ireland four seasons ago.
The estimated €7 million (Dh27.3m) they will bank from Uefa for coming this far means they can take ownership of Oriel Park, their stadium, though bringing it up to international standard will take further time and investment, which is why Uefa insisted they play home matches in Dublin’s Tallaght stadium.
On Thursday, it could be the stage for a giant step forward.
FIXTURES:
Thursday (all times UAE)
• Fenerbahce v Zorya, 8pm
• Manchester United v Feyenoord, 12.05am
• Fiorentina v PAOK Salonika, 10pm
• Slovan Liberec v Qarabag, 10pm
• Hapoel Be’er Sheva v Inter Milan, 10pm
• Sparta Prague v Southampton, 10pm
• Zurich v Villarreal, 10pm
• Steaua Bucherest v Osmanlispor, 10pm
• Astana v Apoel Nicosia, 8pm
• Olympiakos v Young Boys, 12.05am
• Qabala v Anderlecht, 8pm
• Saint-Etienne v Mainz, 12.05am
• Zenit St Petersburg v Maccabi Tel-Aviv, 8pm
• Dundalk v AZ Alkmaar, 12.05am
• Austria Vienna v Astra Giugiu, 12.05am
• Roma v Viktoria Plzen, 12.05am
• Athletic Bilbao v Sassuolo, 12.05am
• Genk v Rapid Vienna, 12.-5am
• Ajax v Panathinaikos, 8pm
• Celta Vigo v Standard Liege, 8pm
• Gent v Sporting Braga, 8pm
• Shaktar Donetsk v Konyaspor, 8pm
Matches on beIN Sports
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