In the space of four magical days, Ireland has been reawoken as a football country
REAWOKEN: Troy Parrott celebrates his hat-trick and Ireland's famous win. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
As Troy Parrott, a combination of disbelief and glee etched across his face, was chased by team-mates entering a state of delirium at Puskas Arena, in living rooms across the land, sons and daughters who we feared would never witness such a moment were finally getting to experience what their parents had been telling them.
The tears flowed in Budapest. They poured out of eyes in homes and hostelries from Killybegs to Kinsale, every town and village in between – and indeed beyond the island.
There is a growing tendency for emotion in football to be overwrought, yet another curse of the look-at-me social media era. Except this was a joy so pure and unfiltered that you wish it could be bottled up and preserved.
Nothing could spoil the moment. Parrott’s perfect prod rustled the Hungarian net, not even the brief pause to ensure VAR was not going to find an issue before a country erupted in rare delight.
It was easy to draw instant parallels to Robbie Keane against Germany in 2002, with Liam Scales taking on the Niall Quinn role, but all those famous days through the team’s history – viewed by the younger generation through YouTube and with little sign of another following before this week – suddenly have a modern competitor that may be sweeter than them all.
Read More
Drink it in, soak it up. Ireland may not yet be going to the World Cup – but it can hardly get any better than the bedlam of Budapest.
In the space of four magical, implausible days a football country has been reawoken.
From fearing an even longer spell in international football’s dark wilderness, a return to the greatest stage is two wins, versus opponents of middling quality, from reality. Pinch yourself, then do it again to make sure – but this is real and Irish football again has a national team to be so very proud of.
Parrott may be the hero, his status transformed in half a week from talented player who had not realised his potential in a green shirt to bonafide legend thanks to a hat-trick that can justifiably, immediately be discussed as one of the island’s greatest sporting moments.
Yet as Heimir Hallgrimsson, somehow still calm in the immediate aftermath of a dramatic conclusion like no other, insisted: this was not the time to zoom in on individuals but appreciate the collective effort.
From Caoimhin Kelleher, a world-class goalkeeper who has made vital interventions in all six fixtures, through a defence that began the campaign as an incohesive, inglorious mess. Across a midfield marshalled by Josh Cullen, who has finally transferred the skillset that has had a series of club managers purring onto this platform, and into a front line that Parrott has swiftly made his manor.
Then again Hallgrimsson, displaying such class when some of his predecessors may have chosen to settle old scores, stressed the need those who were absent yesterday – chief among them Evan Ferguson, injured in Rome.
From a position of worrying about no goalscorers, there may now be debates over which one Hallgrimsson should pick. No way can Parrott be dropped after this. But what happens if Ferguson, before this window the team’s apparent only potential goalscorer outside of a set piece, rediscovers form in Serie A? Not a bad problem to consider.
Even if Parrott, the boy from Belvedere who has finally lived up to the hype, must be the first name on the teamsheet following such a devastatingly efficient spell.
Were it not for his moment – the moment – this piece would have been very different, a hard luck tale trying to focus on the signs of growth.
Their response to such an early concession was mature and controlled. Rather than wilt, as they did in Yerevan, or overcommit, Ireland’s best spell of play before the late charge came in the spell soon after falling 1-0 behind.
The passing was crisp, the movement was adventurous. That they looked like a strong unit in the face of considerable adversity was a mark of major progress compared to eight weeks ago.
At 2-1 they dug in again, never losing belief when previous iterations may have lost their heads despite slivers of misfortune.
Perhaps they could sense some fragility in a Hungary team so painfully overreliant on Dominik Szobozlai, whose technical ability was frighteningly better than any other player on the pitch.
They kept plugging away. Heads did not drop when Chiedozie Ogbene pulled up clutching his right hamstring when through on goal, when Adam Idah was flagged offside after a lovely finish, when Johnny Kenny was somehow denied a Roy of the Rovers debut by Denes Dibusz’s sublime reactionary save eight seconds into added time.
The balls kept being pumped into the box until, finally, when the last grain of sand from the hourglass was about to fall, magic happened.
This job is not yet done but at least the gap to March should ensure those damp eyes have dried, the focus can be dialled back in.
Crucially the momentum must not be slowed too much by an intermission that, right now, seems painfully long. So much has been made about the team’s apparent issues with the second match of a window; last night they will have wanted a third or fourth.
A lot of club football will have to be played before the play-offs, chances for several to stake claims even if it would be desperately cruel for anyone involved this week to miss out.
However Hallgrimsson, again, set the right tone by describing the bigger picture, framing this result as just one stop on a journey which now looks awfully like a major opportunity for the entire sport in Ireland to grasp.
That may be quite a challenge considering the grim financial realities in Abbottstown, a hole so big not even World Cup riches can be an immediate cure, but these victories have filled everyone, from underage grassroots level to the very top, with the inspiration and motivation to drive on.
“It’s just a time to look back and think this is an absolute chance and a possibility for growth, not only for us, but for Irish football, and we should cherish that,” Hallgrimsson said last night.
“I hope in 10 years people will look back and say, ‘These guys started this, that’s the team that started this journey.’ And success is not now, success is not that we won this game here, success is always a constant journey to the right direction.
“That is success. It’s not a place and a moment. We should just think about this, let’s enjoy this moment but don’t forget where we are and where we’re going.”
Heartbreak early next spring should not derail them. Would it be hard to take? No doubt. But this transformation of a team that looked so lifeless and uninspired into one worthy of adoration and admiration has precipitated an unexpected chance to not just bounce back from the doldrums but forge a new, maybe even brighter path.
The many kids who went to bed last night imitating Kelleher’s kick forward, Scales’s knock on and Parrott’s finish have been given their inspiration, and on the big stage Ireland no longer have a team known fondly across the world for past achievements but one very much relevant in the present.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
