McCarthy delighted with Ireland fight

Robbie Keane’s dramatic last-gasp equaliser stole a 1-1 draw for the Republic of Ireland against Germany that keeps their World Cup hopes alive.

The Leeds striker grabbed his 11th international goal deep into injury time to earn Mick McCarthy’s men a second successive draw.

Germany had looked set to become the first side to book their place in the second round courtesy of Miroslav Klose’s 19th-minute header - his fourth goal of the tournament.

But Keane popped up to beat Oliver Kahn and send the Irish fans wild with delight.

A jubilant McCarthy said: ‘‘We’ve given ourselves a chance haven’t we. We’re in with a shout now.

‘‘I thought we deserved something out of it. We battered the Germans. I thought we gave them a good doing to be honest and if we’d come off losing 1-0 I’d have been gutted.

‘‘I said to them at half-time ‘don’t come off here beating them at football and lose - come off having got a result’.

McCarthy added: ‘‘We had to take our chance. What’s the point in coming out here and going out without a fight?’’

Asked about Keane’s late goal, which was set up by substitute Niall Quinn’s flick, McCarthy said: ‘‘Brilliant! I’m glad for Quinny that he got involved and, of course, Robbie gets his goal.’’