'This was special' - O'Neill delight at Republic win
By Alex Keery in FRANCE
It’s job done for all the home nations …
The Republic desperately needed all three points against Italy last night.
They left it late, leaving tens of thousands of Irish fans sweating until the 84th minute.
Wes Hoolahan made up for an earlier miss, putting it on a plate for Robbie Brady who wrote his name into folklore for the boys in green, heading home a dramatic late goal that will be talked about in decades to come.
For their resolve, the Republic have earned a shot at France in the last 16, down in Lyon.
Boss Martin O’Neill is delighted.
“This was very special – enormous support kept us going throughout the game and I think the players and the fans fed off each other,” he said.
“It became rather emotional at the end but it was a great win – a great win.”
For a long time the odds were stacked in favour of that fixture being allocated to Northern Ireland. But the frantic finish, mixed with Iceland’s late late win over Austria, means the green and white army will take in Wales here in Paris on Saturday.
Northern Ireland boss Michael ONeill says he's proud to have qualified.
Although the campaign began with that defeat to Poland down in Nice, that was soon forgotten with the historic 2-0 win over Ukraine in Lyon. The recent defeat to Germany was a narrow one, and manager Michael ONeill says there's plenty to be happy about.
“We were in a very difficult group but we have ourselves out of it and it’s a great feeling,” he said.
After doing well to keep Germany quiet, ONeill must now begin forming a plan for dealing with Gareth Bale.
Picture (PA) - Martin O'Neill after last night's game