Troy Parrott on Hungary hat-trick: I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand how it big it was

TROY TO THE WORLD: Troy Parrott and Ryan Manning celebrate. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Troy Parrott admits he may never be able to fully understand the magnitude of his World Cup playoff clinching winner in Hungary Budapest on Sunday.

Parrott supplied all of Ireland’s goals in the 2-0 and 3-2 victories over Portugal and Hungary, snaffling second place in the group that secured a semi-final away to Czechia on March 26.

His heroics sparked wild scenes among Irish fans, home and abroad, with videos of the improbable comeback going viral.

Instead of returning to Dublin on the charter flight with the rest of the squad straight after Sunday’s drama, he remained in the team hotel with his family. His mother Jennifer has since revealed they chose KFC for their celebratory feast.

“I’m trying to process it a little bit, how big it was, but I don’t think I’ll ever fully be able to understand it,” said Parrott, back in the Netherlands, preparing for Sunday’s Eredivisie clash against Heerenveen.

“I’ve seen a lot of videos from home and I love watching them. Seeing the celebrations, seeing the joy, seeing the smiles, seeing people that don’t even know each other hugging each other and kissing each other.”

All of the 23-year-old’s flexibility was required to apply his studs to the knockdown from Liam Scales as the clock ticked beyond the five minutes of allotted stoppage-time.

“When I’ve watched it back over and over again, my leg was fully stretched,” he told ESPN.

“I couldn’t stretch any more for the ball. I feel like my leg grew an extra few inches in that moment just for that ball to go in. That moment I was 190 for sure. My legs definitely grew longer just to get on the ball.

“I’ve watched the goal a thousand, two thousand times. Every time I open my phone, if I see it, then I’m watching it again.”

Parrott, whose side will welcome Shelbourne to the AFAS Stadion for next Thursday’s Conference League fixture, is confident about Ireland’s ability to navigate the playoffs to secure their place at the World Cup in North America next summer.

“I watched the draw at home on Thursday,” he explained about Ireland discovering their Path D route.

“All of the teams are going to be good in the playoffs, so it doesn’t really matter which one you play.

“I think for us it’s about keeping that same belief and that same fighting spirit we showed last week and trying to complete the job. There’s two games left.

“The way we started in the group, people would have thought that we had no chance. And then to play the two best teams in the last two matches and have to win both of them. That's part of the reason that people are really happy.

“If it’s like this for reaching the playoffs, then I can’t imagine how it’s going to be when we reach the World Cup.”