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Duff gives Ireland a boost ahead of French game

Fulham winger comes though 90 minutes against Wigan unscathed

SEAN O' SHEA

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Monday, November 9, 2009, 2:27 PM

Updated Monday, November 9, 2009, 3:14 PM

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Read more: European Football, Soccer, Sports, Damien Diff

Damien Duff

Ireland were given a timely boost ahead of their World Cup playoff against France with the news that Damien Duff played a full ninety minutes for Fulham against Wigan Athletic on Saturday.

The mercurial Irish winger was suffering from an Achilles problem that was thought to be bad enough to keep him out of the first leg, but this unexpectedly swift return to fitness means the boys in green will have one of their most experienced and talented players available for the first leg at Croke park on Saturday.

Duff is expected to report to Dublin on Tuesday with the rest of the squad to begin the final preparations for one of the biggest weeks in Irish soccer history.

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Irish sport is popular and widespread. Levels of participation and spectating are high on the island of Ireland. Throughout the country a wide variety of Irish sports are played, the most popular being Gaelic games (such as Gaelic football, hurling and camogie), soccer, rugby union and boxing. By attendance figures Gaelic football and hurling are by far the most popular sports in Ireland, (34% of total attendances at sports events being to football and 23% to hurling), while golf and soccer (including 5-a-side) are the most played at 17% of the population each. Many Irish sports, such as boxing, cricket, rugby union, Gaelic football and hurling, are organized in an all-island basis, with a single team representing Ireland in international competitions. Other Irish sports, such as Association Football, have separate organizing bodies in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. At the Olympics, a person from Northern Ireland can choose to represent either Ireland or Great Britain. The various GAA discipline finals are easily the largest sporting events regularly held in Ireland, in both terms of attendance and media coverage. The biggest national sporting event in Ireland is the final of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, held annually in Croke Park in September. It usually attracts a sell out crowd of 82,500 to Croke Park. Many of the matches in the championship attract crowds of 50,000, depending on who is playing. Aside from the GAA, the biggest multi-sport event held in Ireland regularly is the Community Games. The games are organized every year from a local level, where hundreds of thousands of young people compete in different disciplines such as athletics, swimming, cycling etc., in the first half of the year. Winners progress to county level, and then to the Community Games finals. One of the biggest international Irish sport events is international Association Football. The Republic's national team has punched above its weight in recent years, qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, and performed well against such teams as Brazil and Portugal. In rugby union, Ireland's national team has been ranked in the top five teams regularly over the last few years, and has produced major stars such as Keith Wood and Brian O'Driscoll. In golf, Ireland is home to several top golfers such as Padraig Harrington.

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Duff gives Ireland a boost ahead of French game

Fulham winger comes though 90 minutes against Wigan unscathed

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