“He put it right on my head and I would have done well to miss, I think”.
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But then Brady appeared, running onto a Wes Hoolahan cross to score and secure a 1-0 victory that took Martin O’Neill’s men through as one of the best third-placed sides.
The match victor struggled for words at the final whistle, describing it as the best feeling in the world.
Ireland now face hosts France on Sunday for a place in the quarter-finals.
With the continent’s perennial powers shoehorned into the same half of the draw for the Euro 2016 knockout stages, Europe’s lesser lights will never have a better opportunity to topple the traditional giants.
REPUBLIC of Ireland legend Robbie Keane has heaped praise upon Derby County ace Jeff Hendrick – and revealed he once urged Tottenham Hotspur to sign the midfielder.
And the Ray Houghton moment duly arrived when Hoolahan atoned for missing his chance by curling in a wonderful cross that left Salvatore Sirigu stranded and Brady the simple task of nodding home.
Robbie Brady struck with just five minutes remaining as Ireland claimed a dramatic win.
“I think we’ll beat France”. The fact Conte will field a weakened side tonight will obviously affect the betting odds for this game and you can get an Italy win at 29/20 with Ireland backed at 23/10.
“We dominated for incredible periods and played some phenomenal stuff”, he said. “There was not a player in the Irish shirt that did not play heroically”.
Having lost 1-0 on their own turf, Robbie Keane’s goal had given the Republic a win by the same scoreline in Paris.
“If we can stick together and click, we can hurt anybody”, said the Norwich City player, who would have merited his Man of the Match award even without his goal.
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Italian manager Claudio Conte had admitted defeat before the final whistle sounded, with the referee’s signal for an Irish free kick misinterpreted for the final whistle. Brady said: “We will just have to prepare as hard as we can because they will be a tough outfit but if we click on the night we will give them a difficult game”.
