A feeling lost to Irish football for the last eight years has returned
Troy Parrott has scored 19 goals for club and country this season. Pic: Sportsfile
MIRACLES do happen, it transpires. Heimir HallgrĂmsson reckoned they were necessary after losing to Armenia in September but beating a Portugal side ranked 100 places ahead of the minnows triggered a shot at redemption.
And, once again, Troy Parrott was the man for the big occasion – scoring his first-ever international hat-trick to snatch a World Cup playoff spot.
Twice Ireland trailed Hungary before 59,411 fans in Budapest and twice Parrott levelled.
Deep into stoppage time, one minute after the flagged five concluded, the striker pounced with his outstretched studs from Liam Scales’ knockdown to poke the ball past the advancing Dénes Dibusz.
His five goals in three days doubled his international haul of goals into double figures.
Cue delirium among the 3,000 Irish fans stationed in the top deck behind the opposite goal.
This was a feeling lost to Irish football for the last eight years.
Since the beginning of the end started for Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane by getting hammered 5-1 by Denmark, the international team has either stagnated or plummeted.
HallgrĂmsson’s rationale for resting regulars from the summer friendlies – on basis 2026 wouldn’t afford such a rest – was widely received as misplaced optimism by a manager renowned for his confidence.
Qualifying for the Euros, with 24 teams, never mind the World Cup, with just 16 Europeans, was a struggle for Ireland, whose prospects tended to be ended by a couple of early defeats in the campaign.
It looked to be a case of different manager, same outcome following the September calamity but the supremo still believed that miracle was possible. Pushing Portugal to within minutes of a draw in Lisbon last month formed a bedrock to prosper.
What’s laudable about the manager was his admission of mistakes, albeit implicit.
Séamus Coleman’s leadership was badly missed during the hell of Yerevan and he was soon recalled for the October window.
“I couldn’t foresee coming back to play a part in this,” confessed the 37-year-old about his omission. “It hurt me a lot but I’ve been hurt plenty of times in my career.
“Maybe if the Armenia game went a different way, you wouldn’t see me, so maybe selfishly, I had an opportunity to come back and show what I can do, so happy days.”Â
Coleman deservedly enjoyed the acclaim from the fans but more so Parrott, whose star was overshadowed by the emergence of Evan Ferguson over the past two years.
Parrott’s trio bulges his goalscoring haul this season for AZ Alkmaar and Ireland to 19. That’s all the more admirable given a knee injury sidelined him for a month.
Ireland atoned for that horror show in Yerevan by beating the top two seeds in the space of three days.
Ultimately, their fate rested on the top games against the Hungarians.
Early concessions in both meetings gave Ireland an uphill struggle but waiting until the death to lead for the first time over the two matches was ideal. They couldn’t afford for this rematch to end 2-2 as well.
A packed stadium anticipated Hungary moving a step closer to a first World Cup for 40 years and they were on their feet after just four minutes.
Slack defending contributed to Dániel Lukács being allowed to steer his diving header beyond CaoimhĂn Kelleher. The striker appeared to be offside from Dominik Szoboszlai’s delivery, the last of three quickfire early corners, but marking was non-existent.
Ironically, despite Hungary manager Marco Rossi talking up Ireland’s potency from set-piece, it was their vulnerability at the other end which contributed to their opener.
VAR didn’t affect the outcome but it did for Ireland’s equaliser. Attila Szalai’s swipe at Chiedozie Ogbene inside the box was found to clip his foot and Parrott, in spite of missing two spot-kicks for his club this season, stepped up to drill the penalty into the bottom corner.
There was little Ireland could do to prevent Barnabás Varga’s rocket of a second, which regained them the lead eight minutes before the interval.
Robbie Keane’s striker at Ferencváros controlled a cross by Milos Kerkez on his chest before lashing his 20-yarder into the top corner.
HallgrĂmsson’s withdrawal of Jake O’Brien for Ryan Manning at the break offered a width Ireland were devoid of in the first half and the stretching of the Hungarian defence continued after Festy Ebosele’s arrival on the hour mark.
Another substitute, Adam Idah, was fractionally offside when sweeping the ball home but Parrott read the angles better. With 10 minutes left, he latched onto a sublime pass by Finn Azaz through the centre before dinking the ball over the goalkeeper.
Ebosele’s throw-ins were being dealt with by the experienced defence as Ireland went all-out attack seeking the third to overturn the group table.
HallgrĂmsson adopted an adventurous approach by adding a third striker in Johnny Kenny. “We had nothing to lose at that stage,” he remarked.
It seemed the Sligoman, on from the hour mark his debut, had squandered the best opportunity of an equaliser in the final minute when his snapshot from an acute angle was brilliantly saved by Dibusz. Parrott had other ideas.
“I felt if we scored before 80 minutes, we stood a chance,” added Coleman about his observations after being taken off. “I was trying to be optimistic but Troy fully deserves it - what a footballer he is.”Â
Nobody, even the Hungarian players slumped on the turf at full-time, could begrudge Ireland their spot in next Thursday’s draw for the playoffs.
They’ll have a semi-final to navigate to earn a shootout for a place at the World Cup in North America next summer.
After these epic pair of wins, there’s nothing in the potential draws for Ireland to fear.
: D Dibusz; L Nego (A Mocsi 90), A Szalai, W Orbán, M Kerkez; D Szoboszlai, A Schäfer (C Styles 63), A Tóth (B Bolla 76), R Sallai (D Redzic 90), B Varga; D Lukács (B Otvos 63).
: C Kelleher; J O’Brien (R Manning 46), N Collins, D O’Shea; S Coleman (F Ebosele 60), J Cullen (J Taylor , J Molumby (J Kenny 60), L Scales; C Ogbene (A Idah 53), F Azaz; T Parrott.
: Espen EskĂĄs (NOR) Attendance: 59411.
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