LEONARDO BONUCCI, the granite-like Juventus defender, won’t play as badly again for the rest of his career.
Salvatore Sirigu, Italy’s reserve goalkeeper, will wince every time he watches himself duck out of that 50-50 with Robbie Brady. And the collective performance of their midfield in Lille was as abject as you’ll see from a proud football nation that gave us Andrea Pirlo, Roberto Donadoni and Guiseppe Giannini. And their forwards were pretty woeful too. Shane Duffy and Richard Keogh didn’t give Simone Zaza and Ciro Immobile a kick all night.
It was a blessing that Italy had already qualified for the knock-out stages before they faced the Republic of Ireland in the northern town of Lille. From the moment Séamus Coleman flew into Mattia De Sciglio, it was clear the weakened Italians wouldn't be able to match the intensity set by their opponents who needed victory to remain in the tournament.
It was perhaps a blessing, too, manager Antonio Conte only gave Lorenzo Insigne 16 minutes from the bench. Any longer could have been fatal for Ireland’s prospects of reaching the knock-out stages of Euro 2016.
With the game still scoreless and time ticking away, the little Napoli schemer cut in from the left side and watched his right-foot shot come back off the foot of the post.
It was one of the few moments of real quality the Italians conjured on a night that belonged to Martin O’Neill’s men. Just as they did for long periods of their Euro 2016 opener against Sweden, the Irish played with admirable poise.
Thrust from the bench in place of James McCarthy, Wes Hoolahan was to leave an indelible mark on this nerve-shredding tie in Lille. The Norwich City playmaker spurned the chance of the night when he had what felt like an eternity to pass the ball into the net after more indecision in the Italian defence. Right then, Hoolahan felt the burdening weight of a nation on his shoulders - and he fluffed his lines.
Surely, that was Ireland's moment gone. Or so everyone thought. As soon as substitute Aiden McGeady ferried the ball to Hoolahan on the right flank, Robbie Brady was already on his bike in the hope of getting on the end of a cross.
Brady’s courageous run was worth the effort. Hoolahan floated the perfect ball over the scrambling Bonucci and onto Robbie Brady's head. The advancing Sirigu didn’t fancy it. Brady did.
One-nil, Ireland. Relief for Martin O'Neill. Relief for Wes Hoolahan. Brady's late goal was one of the great moments in the history of Irish football and ensured O’Neill would go down as a successful international manager, regardless of what would unfold three days later against hosts France in sunny Lyon.
The Republic of Ireland experienced every conceivable emotion at last summer’s finals. Their composed football deserved more than a share of the spoils with Sweden in Paris, while they were outclassed by a rampant Belgium in Bordeaux.
And just when they thought there was no coming back after Hoolahan’s miss against Italy, the Irish were walking on air after Brady’s late winner.
And there was much to be admired in staying ahead of the French for the best part of an hour before a combination of tiredness and the brilliant predatory instincts of player of the tournament Antoine Greizmann sunk the Irish.
We learned a lot about Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill and the resilience of his squad at Euro 2016. Up until the finals, O’Neill was a bit of a slow-burner for Republic fans.
Despite making room for Wes Hoolahan in his starting line-ups – the kind of player that was never trusted by Giovanni Trapattoni – the football the team played was only marginally better than the previous regime.
But when they got to France, everything changed. And O’Neill proved to be an excellent tournament manager. He rolled the dice at the right times in France, made decisive changes to his starting line-ups and made prudent use of his bench.
Even though John O’Shea and Ciaran Clark were poor against Belgium, few managers would have been brave enough to replace both central defenders for the make-or-break clash against Italy.
Initially, dropping Glenn Whelan and retaining James McCarthy seemed dubious - but McCarthy had the legs to play four matches in 13 days, whereas Whelan didn’t. McCarthy had some really difficult moments in the finals but, overall, O’Neill’s faith in the Everton man paid off.
Barring the nightmare afternoon in Bordeaux, Jeff Hendrick and Robbie Brady enhanced their reputations significantly, as did Hoolahan and Darren Randolph.
O’Neill also managed to squeeze another 10 per cent out of new captain Seamus Coleman while Shane Duffy did enough in the games against Italy and France to move up the pecking order ahead of the 2018 World Cup qualification campaign.
Being grouped with Euro 2016 semi-finalists Wales, a reinvigorated Serbia, qualification experts Austria and the slippery Georgians, the best the Republic of Ireland could probably hope for before a ball was kicked in the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign was a World Cup play-off.
But after four games - three of them away from home - there are now realistic hopes of automatic qualification to Russia. The Republic played poorly in Belgrade, coming from behind to draw 2-2 and played much worse at home to Georgia, but still banked the three points.
Those kinds of performances have been par for the course long before Martin O’Neill stepped onto the international stage as Republic manager. But the manner of their gutsy 1-0 win over Austria in Vienna last month epitomised all that is good about this Ireland team.
They are, once again, greater than the sum of their parts. Indeed, probably the greatest accolade that can be bestowed upon O’Neill’s team - as Austria can testify - is the nightmare they present to their opponents.
The Irish players were in Austria's faces from start to finish in Vienna, and it was fitting James McClean grabbed the winning goal as the Derryman is fast becoming the team’s talisman.
Unbeaten in four games and sitting top of Group D, the landscape couldn't be any better for the Irish ahead of the new year.
2016 RESULTS
March 25 (friendly): Republic of Ireland 1 Switzerland 0; March 29 (friendly): Republic of Ireland 2 Slovakia 2; May 31 (friendly): Republic of Ireland 1 Belarus 2; June 13 (Euro 2016 finals): Republic of Ireland 1 Sweden 1; June 18 (Euro 2016 finals): Republic of Ireland 0 Belgium 3; June 22 (Euro 2016 finals): Republic of Ireland 1 Italy 0; June 26 (Euro 2016 finals): Republic of Ireland 1 France 2; August 31 (friendly): Republic of Ireland 4 Oman 0; September 5 (2018 World Cup Qualifier): Serbia 2 Republic of Ireland 2; October 6 (2018 World Cup Qualifier): Republic of Ireland 1 Georgia 0; October 9 (2018 World Cup Qualifier): Moldova 1 Republic of Ireland 3; November 12 (2018 World Cup Qualifier): Austria 0 Republic of Ireland 1
2017 FIXTURES
March 24 (2018 World Cup Qualifier): Republic of Ireland v Wales; March 28 (friendly, Dublin): Republic of Ireland v Iceland; June 4 (friendly, Dublin ): Republic of Ireland v Uruguay; June 11 (2018 World Cup Qualifier): Republic of Ireland v Austria; September 2 (2018 World Cup Qualifier): Georgia v Republic Ireland; September 5 (2018 World Cup Qualifier): Republic of Ireland v Serbia; October 6 (2018 World Cup Qualifier): Republic of Ireland v Moldova; October 9 (2018 World Cup Qualifier): Wales v Republic of Ireland
A YEAR IN QUOTES...
“My reaction to Aiden’s performance? He can do a lot better, but maybe that’s the story of Aiden’s career. He needs to play better than he did against Belarus to force his way into the starting 11.” - On the eve of Euro 2016, Roy Keane rattles a few cages, including Aiden McGeady’s, following Ireland’s pre-tournament friendly defeat to Belarus
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"The most over-rated player on the planet.” - Martin O’Neill’s assessment of Zlatan Ibrahimovic a decade ago
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“Well, 10 years ago, that might have been the case. Lots of things can happen in that time. I remember, myself, feeling for a period of time that Henrik Larsson was overrated. After about three and-a-half minutes, I changed my mind. Ibrahimovic is a top-class player. He's one of the best in Europe , if not the world. He's Sweden's talisman and he will be hard to keep quiet during the course of the game.” - Martin O’Neill lauds the Zlatan before the Republic’s Euro 2016 opener against Sweden in Paris
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“I thought we played really, really well. I’m disappointed and so are the players in there that we didn’t get more out of it.” - Martin O’Neill laments Sweden ’s second-half equaliser in Paris after a sterling first-half display from his side
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“We’ve nothing to lose. We know we have to get a win. We take confidence - even though we went 3-0 down, we kept the ball well and that’s what we have got to do for 90 minutes against Italy. It is hard work when you play countries who keep the ball. It tires you out.” - Midfielder Jeff Hendrick trying to be upbeat after Euro 2016 group opponents Belgium outclassed the Irish in Bordeaux
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“I have never been more proud of a group of players. I've had great nights, but this was very special.” - Martin O’Neill beams with pride after the Republic beat Italy to progress to the knock-out stages of Euro 2016
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“You can’t put it into words. You look at the scenes and you hear it all. The passion and grown men crying. Complete love for our country and hopefully we can go even further.” - James McClean savours the after-glow in Lille
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"I grew up waiting and dreaming to play at this stage and to go and do it in front of my family is the best feeling in the world." - Ireland’s goal hero against Italy Robbie Brady gives one of the best post-match interviews
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"We definitely got the short straw in that aspect. Three days is an incredibly long amount of time and an advantage.” - Martin O’Neill rues the three-day advantage hosts France were afforded against the Republic. France scraped through to the quarter-finals 2-1 in Lyon
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"As a young boy growing up in Dublin playing football on the street, I could never have imagined the path my life would take - it has exceeded my wildest expectations. I have been extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to play for and captain my country - it was my ultimate goal all those years ago and it has been, by far, my greatest achievement.” - After 146 appearances and a record-breaking 68 goals, Robbie Keane, 36, bids a fond farewell to Ireland’s number 10 jersey
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"If I see a footballer with a Louis Vuitton wash bag, I wonder what that does to others. If you are the only young lad in the changing room without one, then you feel that pressure that you need to go out and get one - even if you don't want one or even like one. That's what I think is wrong with football. It's completely wrong. Your job is to train well and play well on Saturday and do well week in, week out.” - Ireland captain Séamus Coleman articulates all that is wrong with the modern game
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“I think his latest injury is about being overloaded when he came back from Ireland.” - Everton boss Ronald Koeman is peeved by the game-time James McCarthy received for Ireland against Georgia and Moldova, despite not featuring for his club prior to the international double header
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“I always felt the Everton players were going to turn up on crutches or crawling in the hotel door and now it looks like we are probably going to have that issue again with Koeman... I’m not sure when was the last time they won a trophy, I think it was a good number of years ago. Maybe, overloading players and players playing lots of games is a good thing. That means your club has been successful and lads are playing week in, week out, playing midweek games.” Roy Keane gives his damning assessment of Everton
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“I think the players should feel confident in themselves, have the confidence to deal with the ball. To deal with the ball when you have space is not what I’m talking about, it’s dealing with the ball in tighter situations, which the players are capable of doing.” - Martin O’Neill says there’s much room for improvement ahead of the Georgia game. The Irish were duly outplayed by the Group D minnows in Dublin, but they scramble a 1-0 win via Séamus Coleman
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“He's a good lad, James. He can be a bit stupid with what he says in the press down the years, but he's learning. We haven't a bad lad in the group. No egos.” - Jonathan Walters has a jocular dig at his team-mate James McClean following his two-goal salvo in Moldova
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“I should first put a call into Donald Trump to congratulate him. And then give my commiserations to Hillary Clinton. Then, somewhere down the line, Koeman, yes.” - Martin O’Neill can’t see a thaw in relations with the Everton boss
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“Sometimes, you have to give and take with a player like that. He was fantastic and to slip a ball through for James for the goal like that was great.” - Robbie Brady heaps praise on Norwich team-mate Wes Hoolahan for his game-winning pass against 2018 World Cup qualifying opponents Austria
