Jack Charlton’s Ireland team came in for criticism after the 1987 home win over Luxembourg
They are the figures from our past that caused us harm, not all of them famous but names that live on in a special chapter of Irish football history. People like Wim Kieft in 1988, Goran Stavrevski in 1999, William Gallas in 2009, Gerson Rodrigues in 2021, scorers of goals which left a deep mark on the Irish psyche.
Armin Krings is almost on that list, omitted only because his goal was a wake-up call for an Irish side on the road to a first major finals and not a fatal blow like Gallas’s goal in Paris. Krings only ever scored one goal in his international career with Luxembourg but it had the potential to be a very damaging one for Ireland, as he found the net for in a Euro ’88 qualifier against Jack Charlton’s team.