In popular Irish mythology it's often said that the seeds of the Celtic Tiger were sown shortly after Italia '90, when the country's team reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup soccer tournament for the first time.
Halfway through "The Guts," Jimmy Rabbitte's father reminds him just how important this sporting event was for the Irish national psyche of the time: "We felt great about ourselves. For years after. An' tha' only changed a few years back. Now we're useless cunts again."
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