The Republic of Ireland embark upon a face-saving mission in Faro on Monday evening when they attempt to secure just a second Euro 2024 qualifier victory at the seventh time of asking. Anything but a comfortable win over Group B minnows Gibraltar, the only team Stephen Kenny’s men have beaten to date during a desperately disappointing campaign, would invite derision with automatic qualification gone and a play-off place an unlikely source of salvation. Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the talking points surrounding the game at the Estadio Algarve. The end is nigh Stephen Kenny launched his reign as Ireland manager on twin promises to overhaul an ageing squad and play a more exciting brand of football. He has delivered the former and achieved only partial success with the latter. Unfortunately for him, any progress has not been translated into results and as he heads into what seems certain to be his penultimate competitive game, he has won only five of the 27 which have preceded it. So near, so Faro While the Republic of Ireland’s last away game against Gibraltar – a 1-0 Euro 2020 qualifier win at the Victoria Stadium in March 2019 – was played on the rock itself, the sides have met previously at the Estadio Algarve. Robbie Keane’s double and goals from Cyrus Christie and Shane Long secured a 4-0 Euro 2016 qualifier victory in September 2015. However, their most recent visit to the stadium in September 2021 had a nasty twist in the tail when Cristiano Ronaldo’s last-gasp double overhauled John Egan’s header to hand Portugal a 2-1 World Cup qualifier win. Fergie time? Ireland hope they have found a new talisman for years to come in the shape of 18-year-old Brighton striker Evan Ferguson. The teenager was left painfully isolated for long periods against Greece after hitting the post early on, and he will hope for better service as he attempts to add to his two senior international goals – the last of them against Gibraltar – in seven appearances to date against a significantly more porous defence. Winging it Celtic winger Mikey Johnston has not kicked a ball in anger for his club yet this season after being laid low by a back injury during the summer. Kenny threw him on for the last 20 minutes against the Greeks in an effort to add creativity to his labouring side and, while he remains short of match fitness, Monday’s game could be the perfect opportunity for him to launch his season. The Republic lacked inspiration on Friday evening and Johnston provided just that in a second-half cameo in the reverse fixture, in which he scored the opening goal in a 3-0 win. No points, no goals In many respects, Ireland could not have chosen a better opponent for a game they simply have to win. Gibraltar have lost their last seven – a run culminating in Wednesday night’s 4-0 friendly defeat in Wales – without scoring and have conceded a total of 17 goals and collected no points in their five Group B fixtures to date. They last found the back of the net in a 1-0 friendly victory over Andorra in November. Read More Triumphant Wigan boss Matt Peet aims to emulate coaching heroes Dan Biggar confident future is bright for Wales as Test career draws to end England captain Jos Buttler says Afghanistan defeat ‘tough loss to take’ England’s World Cup hopes in jeopardy after shock Afghanistan defeat England’s shock World Cup defeats as Afghanistan add their name to list Harvey Elliott believes Jordan Henderson deserves better from England fans

Think of a snail and you’ll most likely picture a dull, brown pest, feasting on your old neighbour’s lettuces or creeping lazily up your front door. Whereas, in actual fact, they are one of the deadliest animals to humans on earth. Obviously, not the kind you get in UK gardens, but freshwater snails. This is because they harbour dead parasites, most notably parasitic flatworms known as flukes. Indeed, a terrible disease transmitted by flukes, and known as “snail fever”, causes as many as 200,000 deaths a year, according to research published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2000. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter And yet, these freshwater menaces aren’t the only grim reapers of the mollusc family – cone snails can administer a venom that’s so toxic, it can kill up to 700 people. The problem is, it doesn’t look like your typical sea predator: no glistening set of razor-sharp teeth, and no tell-tale fin. Instead, its lethal sting is concealed within its sleek brown and white patterned shell, and shoots out like a harpoon when its prey is near. This means that to the unsuspecting onlooker, the cone is just a pretty little beach ornament. And this is precisely what one Reddit user's parents thought when they chanced upon one while on holiday. The Redditor shared a video to the platform, presumably sent to him by his mum and dad, which he captioned: “Parents wanted to show the cool snail they found while on a vacation to Egypt." Reddit - Dive into anything from OopsThatsDeadly Commentators were quick to point out the identity of the deceptively deadly creature. “I saw these in a nature doc once and they have forever haunted my dreams since,” one wrote. “I struggled to keep my eyes on the video because I thought for sure it would start sticking its barb out when they messed with it,” admitted another. “Very patient snail,” added a third. “They're even sticking their fingers in its house and everything. Could've ended them.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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