He said: “It was just a special night”. I’m just glad Jonny stuck with me. These are the nights that you live for. “But what we did at times, we did very, very well”.
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But O’Neill’s vision of what he wanted and what he believed he could get from the players in his squad was true and if the final chapter, two gritty and composed performances with pressure rattling the valves, brought nearly everyone to a consensus view of his best team, so much the better. Ciaran Clark and and Richard Keogh also had strong games.
“I’m so proud of everyone involved”.
Ireland secured their passage courtesy of a 2-0 win on the night to send the Aviva Stadium into raptures.
They were set on their way by Jonathan Walters’ nerveless 24th-minute penalty, although Bosnia were furious at its award and with a few justification as Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers harshly ruled that defender Ervin Zukanovic had handled Daryl Murphy’s cross.
Bosnia’s hopes were all but ended in the 70th minute when Vranjes could only help Brady’s free kick toward the far post, where Walters was on hand to volley home.
Manager Martin O’Neill was as animated as ever on the touchline throughout, and in his first worldwide role, will lead the country at a major tournament. He has been fantastic, absolutely fantastic.
“I think when I came on I broke the world record for most fouls in a cameo appearance”, he laughed. I’m not sure many people would have expected us to get out of this group so if we get a tough one, as I’m sure we will, hopefully we can try and surprise a few people.
“When he first spoke to me, I never hesitated and it’s been justified, I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, the same with all the other staff, Seamus McDonagh, Steve Guppy, Steve Walford, all of the other guys in the background”. He was the worst on the pitch.
“First of all, it’s very hard to speak about this because because we are aware of what we have lost in these two matches”. Both are well into their mid-thirties and have been wonderful servants to the national team for more than a decade, but that will not sway O’Neill’s team selection. We tried to answer the Irish players with the correct mind of an aggressive game and we did our best.
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“Obviously I’m delighted for the nation, we will have a big following in France as befits the occasion, fans always turn out in great numbers, they were magnificent here tonight, they kept us going”, O’Neill said.
