Positivity pays as Jeff Hendrick shows no fear

The Republic of Ireland may bear the oldest average age at Euro 2016, but it was the two youngest members of the squad who provided so much of the pace and brio that discommoded Sweden for so long on Monday.

Robbie Brady is just 17 days older then Jeff Hendrick and little enough separated the 24-year-old Dubliners in Saint-Denis as they rose to the greatest challenge of their careers thus far with a pair of exceptional displays.

Brady was, up to Norwich City’s recent demotion anyway, something of an endangered species, in that he was a relatively young Irish player who had been born and bred in the 26 counties and plying his trade regularly with a Premier League club.