Play moved swiftly from end to end, but Bosnia were looking the more threatening and Miralem Pjanic saw a 60th-minute snapshot blocked at source after Medunjanin had picked him out with a clever free-kick. There are always going to be ups and downs in a qualifying campaign, we have said that, and you have got to deal with the lows. When asked as to what he was thinking at that time Walters confirmed that he “was thinking of my family up there”.
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“You grow up wanting to be in these tournaments and now I can’t wait”, he said.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, Mum passed away when I was 11”.
Current manager Gareth Ainsworth congratulated O’Neill on his global success and spoke of his respect for the 63-year-old who has taken a career path he would one day like to replicate. “It’s the whole team”.
A similar process of transition has been smoothly applied throughout the team and continued right up to the second leg of the play-off.
“It was a really hard game and there was a few real shifts put in at the back”.
“Stuff [offers] has come up, but I’ve always been focused on the [Irish] job”, he said.
“But the fog didn’t get any worse after about 15 minutes of the second half and if the referee, I suppose, saw fit to start the second half with the fog deepening, then he obviously saw fit to keep the game going”.
“To qualify the way we did is unbelievable”, the Stoke City forward said.
“It was nothing compared to the what happened when we drew against Scotland in June time as the people were out saying it was all over”.
Both O’Neill and Roy Keane were at the Hawthorns on the night that Gibson made a rare appearance for Everton as a substitute in a 3-2 win.
“Coming into the football club at the time when the club was on its knees, and I believe I saved the club from relegation past year, I felt the opportunity [to stay at the club] should have still been afforded to me”. Walters was keen to emphasise this in the aftermath of the game while mentioning that numerous players had never played in a major tournament before and this will be their chance to shine. We beat Germany so they won’t be a problem – we took care of them so it’s just Spain and the rest of them to worry about! David Meyler will need to improve his performances for Hull or hope an injury opens up a space for him in the squad. And we have a few good players in that dressing room.
“Martin and I are in the game far too long to think you’ve achieved anything until the final whistle went last night”.
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Ireland were unbeaten in Dublin during the entire campaign, winning four games and drawing two, and O’Neill thanked fans for their support.
