THE WORLD CUP : Police, Wet Weather Keep Fans in Check as Irish Tie English

Scrappy Ireland rallied for a second-half goal and tied favored England, 1-1, Monday night in its World Cup debut.

Massive Italian security precautions, ranging from military helicopters to huge police dogs, shut out English soccer hooligans who came early, cheered quickly--and went home wet.

Short of attacking ideas, slow to find the open man, neither team was convincing in playing to the 1990 Cup’s first draw. For most of the game, the weather--a stiff wind off the sea, an awesome lightning display and a chilly second-half rain--provided more spectacle than action by England’s whites and Ireland’s greens.

With frequent passes going astray and the ball constantly floating in the air, the quality of play was a notch below what Italy, Brazil and West Germany have brought to the Cup, and particularly disappointing for England, one of the favorites.

“We had it won--and lost it,” said England’s Coach Bobby Robson. “We made a mistake.”

Attacker Gary Lineker of London’s Tottenham Hotspurs put England ahead after eight minutes on what, after nine games, might have been the tournament’s ugliest goal.

Chris Waddle lifted a pass over the Irish center backs, goalkeeper Patrick Bonner committed but could not control the ball, and Lineker chased it into the back of the net in a tangle with two disconsolate Irish fullbacks.

“A scrappy, awful goal,” Irish Coach Jack Charlton said.

Kevin Sheedy missed Ireland’s best chance in the first half, from six yards out, but got the equalizer in the 72nd minute on a field by then slick with rain.

Sheedy, who plays for Everton in the English League First Division, controlled a deflected pass after it was mishandled by defender Steve McMahon of Liverpool, who had entered as a substitute a few minutes before.

Making the most of McMahon’s miscue, Sheedy drilled it smartly into the extreme corner of the net with a thundering left foot that gave venerable English goalkeeper Peter Shilton no chance.

Soon thereafter, Liverpool’s McMahon got the game’s only yellow card as the teams exchanged weak chances, and the pace slackened into a draw rhythm. Overall, Ireland had seven shots, and England five.

Ireland’s Charlton, a former English star, made no secret of his delight at the result, which gives his team a good second-round shot in its first World Cup appearance.

“We got no less than we deserved,” Charlton said in the soggy aftermath.

Irish fans, excited, exuberant and orderly in cascades of green, white and orange, outdid the English in numbers, volume and good humor Monday in a Sardinia braced for trouble after weekend disorders stirred by young English fans.

With a reported attendance of 35,238, there were nearly 5,000 empty seats in the bright and modern stadium that is Sardinia’s joy.

Everybody who got in to see the game first had to run the gamut of an Italian security crunch that was calculated to intimidate. It did.

Helicopters, troopers from three different forces, dressed for riot--or war--and cavalry enough to have saved Custer scrutinized spectators at a series of checkpoints on their way to the stadium.

Once inside, they were watched by a high-tech network of television cameras. At one point, while they were still winning, English supporters began marching through the aisles of one section, but were joined instantly by a stern file of large policemen.

When the game ended, the happy Irish left first. Once they were well on their way, the English stands were allowed to empty into wet streets where cabs were scarce, but not cops.

With one point each after Monday’s draw, England and Ireland both still must play powerhouse Netherlands, and Egypt, the fourth team in Group F.

And with one point in hand, a victory over weak Egypt would mean three points and enough for advancement for both England and Ireland, no matter what happens to them against the Netherlands.

The Dutch, potential finalists, play their opener tonight against Egypt in Palermo.

England plays the Netherlands here Saturday in a game that is most potentially troubling to Italian police, since a dangerous minority of Dutch fans are as violence prone as their English counterparts.