| Republic Of Ireland 21:39 - Mar 27 with 9893 views | thame_hoops |
WOW |  | | |  |
| Republic Of Ireland on 15:08 - Mar 28 with 1911 views | Toast_R |
| Republic Of Ireland on 02:09 - Mar 28 by BrianMcCarthy |
But Irish players are foreign players in England/Britain, By definition.
But we got away with UEFA tweaks for a while, and the FAI have always relied on England to develop top Irish players for them.
Post-Brexit, Ireland doesn't have that luxury. |
Irelands most successful period was based around players qualifying through Irish parents or grand parents (or neither in Cascariono's case) with the addition of some good homegrown talent who had flourished at English clubs at a time when the top English clubs scouted the home nations and Ireland for talent. The success of the Premier League meant the clubs could afford to push their scouting networks worldwideand cherrypick the very best upcoming players. This was also impacting England as well until the FA pulled their finger out. |  | | |
| Republic Of Ireland on 16:15 - Mar 28 with 1836 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Republic Of Ireland on 15:08 - Mar 28 by Toast_R |
Irelands most successful period was based around players qualifying through Irish parents or grand parents (or neither in Cascariono's case) with the addition of some good homegrown talent who had flourished at English clubs at a time when the top English clubs scouted the home nations and Ireland for talent. The success of the Premier League meant the clubs could afford to push their scouting networks worldwideand cherrypick the very best upcoming players. This was also impacting England as well until the FA pulled their finger out. |
I agree with all of that.
But the Cascarino thing was him spinning nonsense to sell his book. He was always eligible. he found out that his Mother was adopted, that's all. That didn't change her citizenship rights, nor Cascarino's, so he qualified through her Father/Adoptive Father. |  |
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| Republic Of Ireland on 16:54 - Mar 28 with 1796 views | MrSheen |
Minority view perhaps, but Ireland’s struggles in football, though undoubtedly assisted by leaders like Delaney and friends, are down to the tenacity of the GAA in refusing to bow to the “inevitable” of being steamrolled by the World Game (TM) when it came calling around 1990 and offering every kid the chance to play and represent their community. No doubt they fight dirty, but in defending their own game, they’ve made the world more interesting. [Post edited 28 Mar 2021 16:55]
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| Republic Of Ireland on 17:04 - Mar 28 with 1776 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Republic Of Ireland on 16:54 - Mar 28 by MrSheen |
Minority view perhaps, but Ireland’s struggles in football, though undoubtedly assisted by leaders like Delaney and friends, are down to the tenacity of the GAA in refusing to bow to the “inevitable” of being steamrolled by the World Game (TM) when it came calling around 1990 and offering every kid the chance to play and represent their community. No doubt they fight dirty, but in defending their own game, they’ve made the world more interesting. [Post edited 28 Mar 2021 16:55]
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I'm not sure I get your point, Sheen, sorry. | |
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| Republic Of Ireland on 17:14 - Mar 28 with 1762 views | MrSheen |
| Republic Of Ireland on 17:04 - Mar 28 by BrianMcCarthy |
I'm not sure I get your point, Sheen, sorry. |
Ireland has a population of 5m. If a big chunk of the talent pool is off playing other games, how successful can they expect to be?
Football offers stars huge riches, but none of that wealth goes back to the game - see also Australia, where premier league reserves make more money than AFL or League stars, who are household names playing in front of full houses. The GAA can’t offer that, but by not paying players (officially!), they can pour money into the community games and snap up future generations. Suits me, the football world will survive without a strong Ireland, but who else will take up hurling? There will have been many who hoped or feared that would be inevitable when Ireland started qualifying for tournaments but thankfully hasn’t happened. [Post edited 28 Mar 2021 17:17]
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| Republic Of Ireland on 17:31 - Mar 28 with 1716 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Republic Of Ireland on 17:14 - Mar 28 by MrSheen |
Ireland has a population of 5m. If a big chunk of the talent pool is off playing other games, how successful can they expect to be?
Football offers stars huge riches, but none of that wealth goes back to the game - see also Australia, where premier league reserves make more money than AFL or League stars, who are household names playing in front of full houses. The GAA can’t offer that, but by not paying players (officially!), they can pour money into the community games and snap up future generations. Suits me, the football world will survive without a strong Ireland, but who else will take up hurling? There will have been many who hoped or feared that would be inevitable when Ireland started qualifying for tournaments but thankfully hasn’t happened. [Post edited 28 Mar 2021 17:17]
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I see. Sorry for not getting that first time.
I think soccer's big problem in Ireland is that's almost exclusively a youth sport, similar to the U.S. Something like 1 million kids play soccer in some form. Most kids play soccer and GAA. So soccer has access to sufficient young athletes, and the elite ones as well.
But I don't know a single adult who plays 11-a-side soccer, not one. The FAI are dreadful at spreading their game. The IRFU on the other hand are superb at it, soaking schools and rural areas, establishing clubs in places that couldn't pronounce "rugby" twenty years ago. The FAI exists only in pockets.
The FAI are also dreadful at player development, though friends who coach soccer in Ireland tell me that they've turned the corner on that in the last few years. So there's hope.
The GAA is no threat to the FAI that I can see. They even loaned them Croke Park. On the coaching front, soccer, football and hurling can co-exist, and do. Rugby is the outlier as kids who play rugby generally see their football skills deteriorate.
I'd love to see soccer boom in Ireland, but the FAI will have to come from nowhere to achieve it. | |
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| Republic Of Ireland on 18:30 - Mar 28 with 1659 views | WatfordR |
| Republic Of Ireland on 17:31 - Mar 28 by BrianMcCarthy |
I see. Sorry for not getting that first time.
I think soccer's big problem in Ireland is that's almost exclusively a youth sport, similar to the U.S. Something like 1 million kids play soccer in some form. Most kids play soccer and GAA. So soccer has access to sufficient young athletes, and the elite ones as well.
But I don't know a single adult who plays 11-a-side soccer, not one. The FAI are dreadful at spreading their game. The IRFU on the other hand are superb at it, soaking schools and rural areas, establishing clubs in places that couldn't pronounce "rugby" twenty years ago. The FAI exists only in pockets.
The FAI are also dreadful at player development, though friends who coach soccer in Ireland tell me that they've turned the corner on that in the last few years. So there's hope.
The GAA is no threat to the FAI that I can see. They even loaned them Croke Park. On the coaching front, soccer, football and hurling can co-exist, and do. Rugby is the outlier as kids who play rugby generally see their football skills deteriorate.
I'd love to see soccer boom in Ireland, but the FAI will have to come from nowhere to achieve it. |
There's two different issues, but obviously related to each other. The first is the paucity of the performance at national team level, the second is the spread of the game at amateur level.
On the first point, there's a reason why the likes of Jack Grealish and Declan Rice have shied away from committing their international futures to Ireland over recent years. From Trapattoni to Martin O'Neill to Mick McCarthy, the standard of football played has been embarrassingly poor. There's been virtually no ambition to do anything other than be competitive (i.e. not lose by a margin that reflects how little quality we have). We really haven't "competed" to win, other than against the likes of Gibraltar, where just turning up was pretty much enough.
I personally wasn't bothered about how "Irish" players in previous decades were seen to be. I'd probably never have been considered Irish enough (born in London to Irish parents), but I'm always proud to be Irish, irrespective of where I was born or what my accent sounds like. If they wanted to play for Ireland, and committed to the cause, that was fine by me.
I think the point has been made by a few on this thread quite rightly that the FAI hasn't worked or invested anywhere near enough to capitalise on the success of previous decades, whilst both the GAA and IRFU have. In particular, I've seen the local GAA club facilities in my family's village in Meath upgraded significantly over the last ten years. The club is the central hub of the community now, irrespective of the relative lack of success of the GAA football club during that time. There's a small soccer club playing games essentially on a bit of land leased to them, but it's nothing more than a field to be honest. You're taking a big risk of injury playing on it.
You've got to have a bit of a dream as a kid to get the bug for your sport of choice. There's really no one giving you anything to dream about in Irish football, and probably hasn't been since....who, Robbie Keane? |  | | |
| Republic Of Ireland on 23:48 - Mar 28 with 1512 views | Myke |
| Republic Of Ireland on 17:31 - Mar 28 by BrianMcCarthy |
I see. Sorry for not getting that first time.
I think soccer's big problem in Ireland is that's almost exclusively a youth sport, similar to the U.S. Something like 1 million kids play soccer in some form. Most kids play soccer and GAA. So soccer has access to sufficient young athletes, and the elite ones as well.
But I don't know a single adult who plays 11-a-side soccer, not one. The FAI are dreadful at spreading their game. The IRFU on the other hand are superb at it, soaking schools and rural areas, establishing clubs in places that couldn't pronounce "rugby" twenty years ago. The FAI exists only in pockets.
The FAI are also dreadful at player development, though friends who coach soccer in Ireland tell me that they've turned the corner on that in the last few years. So there's hope.
The GAA is no threat to the FAI that I can see. They even loaned them Croke Park. On the coaching front, soccer, football and hurling can co-exist, and do. Rugby is the outlier as kids who play rugby generally see their football skills deteriorate.
I'd love to see soccer boom in Ireland, but the FAI will have to come from nowhere to achieve it. |
Brian, as a soccer and hurling coach of a group of U17's I have to disagree with you. The GAA is a huge threat to the development of soccer players in Ireland. Perhaps the official 'ban' was lifted in 1971 but in practice it still exists. I had coached a school team to a Connaught Final a few years ago. The night before the match my captain got a phone call from the Mayo minor manager who warned him no to play the next day of he was off the minor panel. I could give a few more subtle examples of this but this was the most blatant. What a position to put a 17 year old kid in the night before the biggest game of his life.
But for sure soccer at grassroots level shoots itself in the foot too. Last season my local junior league voted for summer soccer league putting themselves in direct competition with the GAA. Many young lads play soccer in the winter to keep fit before switching back to GAA in the spring. This can be frustrating as you lose players at the business end of the soccer season but at least you have them for two thirds of the season. Under the new plan we wouldn't have them at all. Covid obviously has put all that on hold but it will have to be addressed eventually and kids are going to be forced to make a choice. In Sligo we don't have a huge selection chance for either soccer or GAA and dividing it even further is simply going to make them weaker at both codes |  | | |
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| Republic Of Ireland on 23:55 - Mar 28 with 1496 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
| Republic Of Ireland on 10:35 - Mar 28 by Rangersw12 |
No never been a Republic Fan. Ireland have played awful dull football for years and anytime they have done well and qualified for a tournament it was made up of English players not good enough to play for us.
I've also never understood why any English football fan would cheer on Ireland as no different to cheering on any other European country.
As for England it will probably be the usual story of going out to the first decent team we face but we do seem to have a very good young squad this time so I can dream of glory.
I do think with England that the manager is holding us back and someone like Eddie Howe would certainly get this group playing some fantastic attacking football. |
Harsh on Southgate.
Last time we got to a WC Semi the Berlin Wall was still standing. |  | | |
| Republic Of Ireland on 23:57 - Mar 28 with 1498 views | SydneyRs |
| Republic Of Ireland on 23:34 - Mar 27 by paulparker |
Ireland don’t have the players plain & simple
Kenny has an impossible job, he has to change it from the hoof ball of McCarthy & O’Neil and he is doing it with players from Rochdale , Luton , Preston etc
It’s going to take time the problem is if you sack him then who takes over |
Rochdale, Luton, Preston etc players should still be able to beat Luxembourg.
From the heights of the late 80s and 90s to this. | | | |
| Republic Of Ireland on 00:00 - Mar 29 with 1497 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Republic Of Ireland on 23:48 - Mar 28 by Myke |
Brian, as a soccer and hurling coach of a group of U17's I have to disagree with you. The GAA is a huge threat to the development of soccer players in Ireland. Perhaps the official 'ban' was lifted in 1971 but in practice it still exists. I had coached a school team to a Connaught Final a few years ago. The night before the match my captain got a phone call from the Mayo minor manager who warned him no to play the next day of he was off the minor panel. I could give a few more subtle examples of this but this was the most blatant. What a position to put a 17 year old kid in the night before the biggest game of his life.
But for sure soccer at grassroots level shoots itself in the foot too. Last season my local junior league voted for summer soccer league putting themselves in direct competition with the GAA. Many young lads play soccer in the winter to keep fit before switching back to GAA in the spring. This can be frustrating as you lose players at the business end of the soccer season but at least you have them for two thirds of the season. Under the new plan we wouldn't have them at all. Covid obviously has put all that on hold but it will have to be addressed eventually and kids are going to be forced to make a choice. In Sligo we don't have a huge selection chance for either soccer or GAA and dividing it even further is simply going to make them weaker at both codes |
Hi Myke,
On the first paragraph, sorry to hear that. There's much greater cooperation down here thankfully. I'm with the Cork Minor Footballers and a huge majority of our players also play hurling, about half also play soccer and a few play rugby. They're not asked by us to abandon any other sports. If they can play more than one sport and stay fit and sharp then it will make them better at every sport. We love our lads to play basketball, for instance, as their spatial awareness really develops.
My Godson played youths with Shelbourne up until last year (as well as gaelic football for Skerries) and his experience echoes yours in the second paragraph as the DDSL went to the summer. He found it hugely frustrating. I agree with you that it's a nonsense. | |
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| Republic Of Ireland on 07:46 - Mar 29 with 1399 views | Gloucs_R |
Can you all please stop calling it soccer? Or I'll ask Clive to ban you. 😠|  |
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| Republic Of Ireland on 07:57 - Mar 29 with 1396 views | Watford_Ranger |
| Republic Of Ireland on 23:57 - Mar 28 by SydneyRs |
Rochdale, Luton, Preston etc players should still be able to beat Luxembourg.
From the heights of the late 80s and 90s to this. |
The guy who scored plays for Dynamo Kiev. They’ve got players in the top divisions of decent leagues around Europe. Yeah Ireland should still be winning but this wasn’t a loss to San Marino/Gibraltar. | | | |
| Republic Of Ireland on 09:15 - Mar 29 with 1344 views | hoopsmark |
| Republic Of Ireland on 07:57 - Mar 29 by Watford_Ranger |
The guy who scored plays for Dynamo Kiev. They’ve got players in the top divisions of decent leagues around Europe. Yeah Ireland should still be winning but this wasn’t a loss to San Marino/Gibraltar. |
Correct,i was reading some pundit stuff and they said that they would be no walkover...... | | | |
| Republic Of Ireland on 09:20 - Mar 29 with 1334 views | MrSheen |
| Republic Of Ireland on 09:15 - Mar 29 by hoopsmark |
Correct,i was reading some pundit stuff and they said that they would be no walkover...... |
Twice the population of Iceland. The giant is awake. | | | |
| Republic Of Ireland on 09:35 - Mar 29 with 1321 views | Myke |
| Republic Of Ireland on 07:46 - Mar 29 by Gloucs_R |
Can you all please stop calling it soccer? Or I'll ask Clive to ban you. 😠|
It's just a differentiation thing I think. In all jurisdictions globally, where association football is not their national sport (Ireland, Australia, USA, for eg) is is called soccer. | | | |
| Republic Of Ireland on 10:29 - Mar 29 with 1272 views | Paddyhoops |
| Republic Of Ireland on 23:48 - Mar 28 by Myke |
Brian, as a soccer and hurling coach of a group of U17's I have to disagree with you. The GAA is a huge threat to the development of soccer players in Ireland. Perhaps the official 'ban' was lifted in 1971 but in practice it still exists. I had coached a school team to a Connaught Final a few years ago. The night before the match my captain got a phone call from the Mayo minor manager who warned him no to play the next day of he was off the minor panel. I could give a few more subtle examples of this but this was the most blatant. What a position to put a 17 year old kid in the night before the biggest game of his life.
But for sure soccer at grassroots level shoots itself in the foot too. Last season my local junior league voted for summer soccer league putting themselves in direct competition with the GAA. Many young lads play soccer in the winter to keep fit before switching back to GAA in the spring. This can be frustrating as you lose players at the business end of the soccer season but at least you have them for two thirds of the season. Under the new plan we wouldn't have them at all. Covid obviously has put all that on hold but it will have to be addressed eventually and kids are going to be forced to make a choice. In Sligo we don't have a huge selection chance for either soccer or GAA and dividing it even further is simply going to make them weaker at both codes |
Being originally from the west of Ireland. I see where you're coming from.
Gaa was king and you were seen as a traitor to the cause if you picked the "foreign" game over the gaa.
Very much still the case although the clique that run the organisation secretly sit at home and watch United and Liverpool.
I was a regular at Sligo Rovers back in the seventies and eighties.
People especially in Gaa circles would laugh at you for attending.
I loved it. Couple of thousand on a good day, 400 or 500 on a bad day. Didn't matter . Wish they're more people who run Sligo Rovers about. Our national game would benefit hugely!! | | | |
| Republic Of Ireland on 12:08 - Mar 29 with 1199 views | TomS |
In my kids experience, the GAA are determined in their ambition to retain a dominant position in the sporting lives of the kids coming through. It's subtle, but calculated.
For example, they invite kids as young as 4 years old take participate in Saturday morning "Mini Leagues", which are structured, very well funded and very well organised training sessions. The kids get their club kits and feel an association with the club. As they get older, they progress to underage teams and begin training and playing matches, so it goes to a twice a week commitment. Meanwhile the kids have other simultaneous acrivities/sports going on in their lives, so the calendar is filling up. Then the club ask to train twice a week, with matches at the weekend too, if you want your child to still retain a place on the first team squad. There is no obvious pressure, but. it's there. At this point, in many households, something has to give. Your child has to sacrifice a sport/activity to accommodate the extra demand from the GAA Club.
That's how they become the dominant sport in the area. |  | | |
| Republic Of Ireland on 12:16 - Mar 29 with 1194 views | Myke |
| Republic Of Ireland on 10:29 - Mar 29 by Paddyhoops |
Being originally from the west of Ireland. I see where you're coming from.
Gaa was king and you were seen as a traitor to the cause if you picked the "foreign" game over the gaa.
Very much still the case although the clique that run the organisation secretly sit at home and watch United and Liverpool.
I was a regular at Sligo Rovers back in the seventies and eighties.
People especially in Gaa circles would laugh at you for attending.
I loved it. Couple of thousand on a good day, 400 or 500 on a bad day. Didn't matter . Wish they're more people who run Sligo Rovers about. Our national game would benefit hugely!! |
I probably near you (you would definitely have hear me!) at the Showgrounds back in the 80's. I still try to go as regularly as possible. Dunno if you remember a player called Johnny Kenny? His son, by the same name, has just broken into the team now, Rovers are very excited about him. Lovely stadium and as you say, great atmosphere even with a small crowd.
Soccer (sorry Gloucs) is my number one passion, but I love hurling, superb game of speed, skill, strength and stamina. As Brian rightly says, with a bit of cooperation there is room for all sports.
One of the biggest challenges I fear going forward, will not be getting young people to choose WHICH sport, but to choose ANY sport that is not of the virtual variety. This is yet another issue which has been exacerbated by Covid lockdown. | | | |
| Republic Of Ireland on 12:26 - Mar 29 with 1187 views | brendan |
Ireland is a sport mad country and if soccer was the main sport in the country we would have a great national team. I’m involved with an amateur rural club in Kilkenny which unfortunately is in direct competition with hurling, which in itself is a great game.
When I played in the early 80s the soccer club played in a farmer’s field, like most clubs. Since then we have bought our own land and since I got involved again in the club in the early 00s we have invested over a million euro which wag grant aided by €250k. We got zero from the FAI.
I see good under 12s, 13s 14s but in almost all cases the better players choose hurling at 14/15.
Of course that’s their choice but then you see county players bemoaning the fact they can’t make a career from sport even though they make a lot of sacrifices to stay on the county team.
I’ve heard interviews with Damien Delaney and David Meyler and luckily they kept playing soccer as well as Gaelic football and were in a position to choose at 18. Both played county minor as far as I can remember.
While Gaelic games remain the sport of choice for so many, soccer will always struggle.
Meanwhile “soccer people “ will continue to promote and grow the game. |  | | |
| Republic Of Ireland on 12:49 - Mar 29 with 1150 views | Myke |
Two great posts from Tom and Brendan. I see Sligo Rovers are fighting back at the 'kidnapping' of four-year-olds by the GAA by presenting every new born baby in the Sligo hospital with a Rovers shirt. Can't get them much younger than that!
In the interest of balance, to be fair, the lack of cooperation (in the NW anyway) is a two way thing. Any player who is selected for Sligo Rovers at any age, is prohibited from playing other sports. | | | |
| Republic Of Ireland on 12:56 - Mar 29 with 1141 views | Paddyhoops |
| Republic Of Ireland on 12:16 - Mar 29 by Myke |
I probably near you (you would definitely have hear me!) at the Showgrounds back in the 80's. I still try to go as regularly as possible. Dunno if you remember a player called Johnny Kenny? His son, by the same name, has just broken into the team now, Rovers are very excited about him. Lovely stadium and as you say, great atmosphere even with a small crowd.
Soccer (sorry Gloucs) is my number one passion, but I love hurling, superb game of speed, skill, strength and stamina. As Brian rightly says, with a bit of cooperation there is room for all sports.
One of the biggest challenges I fear going forward, will not be getting young people to choose WHICH sport, but to choose ANY sport that is not of the virtual variety. This is yet another issue which has been exacerbated by Covid lockdown. |
I left Ireland in 87. So Johnny Kenny would have been Ireland nineties player.
I was brought up on the likes of Harry mcloughlynn, ski mcgee,later of our parish. Tony stenson and Not forgetting the great Tony Fagan.
Youre right though, technology is huge challenge for young people going forward. Nobody even reads books anymore let alone encourage them to play sport. | | | |
| Republic Of Ireland on 13:20 - Mar 29 with 1110 views | R_from_afar |
| Republic Of Ireland on 10:54 - Mar 28 by francisbowles |
It's because a lot of us on here have an Irish ancestry.
I am another one who supports the home nations as well:
1. England
2. Ireland
3. Scotland (Mrs FB from)
4. N.Ireland
5. Wales |
I support the home nations too, like a few of you on here, and Francis Bowles, I have the same situation with Scotland, Mrs R from Afar is from Glasgow so we have been roaring on Lyndon and his team mates.
She supports Glasgow Rangers but QPR too and proudly wears QPR brands clothes in public, when appearing in public is allowed.... |  |
| "Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1." |
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| Republic Of Ireland on 15:24 - Mar 29 with 1016 views | Myke |
| Republic Of Ireland on 13:20 - Mar 29 by R_from_afar |
I support the home nations too, like a few of you on here, and Francis Bowles, I have the same situation with Scotland, Mrs R from Afar is from Glasgow so we have been roaring on Lyndon and his team mates.
She supports Glasgow Rangers but QPR too and proudly wears QPR brands clothes in public, when appearing in public is allowed.... |
She must be a happy woman this year. It's been a long road back. Credit to Gerard, for completing the job, but Warburton played his part along the journey. | | | |
| Republic Of Ireland on 17:15 - Mar 29 with 928 views | bob566 |
unfortunately there just aren't the facilities anymore for young talent coming through.
The LOI clubs try hard to produce them and some of the amateur clubs have a tremendous history of producing talent e.g. Cherry Orchard, St Kevins boys etc,
I don't think the govt is investing as much into grass roots as it used to. They are pumping their money into Cula camps for the gaa kids. Also big companies like musgraves are pumping huge amounts into the GAA too. Why would they trust the FAI with money after how its allegedly been run for the last 20 years.
Don't think removing Kenny will solve anything at this stage. | | | |
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