Dramatic Robbie Brady winner sets up French reunion

For so long last night it looked like this might be Sweden and the Stade de France revisited: another terrific Irish performance – full of heart, fire and no little skill – that was not going to reap its just reward. One of those heartbreaking nights even, when Ireland, after giving their all, were going to end up with nothing.
But then, just as he’d done one foggy might in Bosnia, on this muggy night in Lille, Robbie Brady popped up with the crucial goal. Five minutes from the end, with the clock and a classically impregnable Italian defence against Ireland, two Dublin street footballers combined to magical effect: Wes Hoolahan, on as a late sub and, having a moment before missed what then seemed the chance of the match, floated a beautiful ball into the box and, arriving late, Brady met it with a firm header and — in the vernacular of the game at all levels in Ireland — he absolutely buried it.