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Dunphy's Tiger Woods-style apology into the camera was almost funnier than the actual F-bomb.

'He was 'f**king dreading it' - My 2014 sporting moment

Don’t ever change, Eamon.

HOW IS IT possible that a man like Eamon Dunphy, someone who has been involved in broadcasting for 40 years, someone who has been embroiled in countless controversies, only said f**k on-air for the first time this summer?

Or should I say, only apologised for saying f**k on-air for the first time this summer. Long before f**k-gate occurred during the World Cup, Dunphy was caught unaware after an Apres Match sketch.

finsterb1 / YouTube

Fast forward to 17 June 2014, and Brazil’s game against Mexico. After a scoreless first half, we return from an ad-break to the RTE studio.

There must have been a malfunction with their earpieces because as Bill reintroduces the panel, Didi Hamann is playing Candy Crush and Eamon Dunphy is holding court with Kenny Cunningham.

What happened next was my favourite sporting moment of 2014 and I’ve broke it down sentence by sentence.

Bill: You can see the level of expectancy…

Eamon continues to talk to Kenny.

Bill: Eamon?

Eamon: …..the pitch was a fucking bog

Bill finally gets Eamon’s attention. It is unclear if he knows they are on the air yet.

Bill (again) : You can see the level of expectancy? Haha…

Eamon: When Neymar was shaping up to take that penalty, I thought he was fucking-

Bill: *HOOOOOOOO*

Bill makes a face that looks exactly like the shocked emoji and omits a low pitched noise.

Eamon: -dreading it.

Bill raises his index finger to Eamon… the penny begins to drop.

Eamon: Sorry, we’re-

Bill: We’re on air!

Eamon: Oh we’re not, are we?!?

Bill: Well, I’ll apologise for that. Obviously that was – haha

Eamon: I’m sorry!

Bill: -an inexactitude. Let’s get our final predictions.

Bpb101 / YouTube

I was out of the country when this happened and the five minute wait from when I saw the tweet ‘DUNPHY SAYS F**K ON AIR!’ and when the first video appeared online was the most excruciating wait of my life.

I just watched it again, and again and again. Everything about the clip is brilliant but here are a few things that make it an all-time Irish sporting moment:

  • Bill laughs twice at Eamon saying f**k
  • Didi is acting the maggot as well
  • Bill’s shocked face
  • Eamon’s panicked reaction of ‘oh, we’re not are we?!?’

Somehow, it got even better. Rather than leave it with Bill’s apology or do a quick ‘sorry about that’, Eamon demanded a camera and gave a hilariously serious apology after what was a harmless enough gaffe.

niallsi2014 / YouTube

Punditry will be a lot less exciting without Eamon Dunphy.

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