Ireland book Euro 2016 ticket
Six years to the week after Irish hearts were broken by the unseen Thierry Henry handball which cost them a place at the 2010 World Cup finals, the Republic of Ireland are back to international football and it could not have been sweeter as they booked their place at Euro 2016.
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Stoke City’s frontman Jonathan Walters dispatched a volley past former team-mate Asmir Begovic 20 minutes from time to wrap up a 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina on the night and a 3-1 aggregate victory.
Ireland will now take part in a second successive European finals tournament having qualified via the play-offs, an achievement which will extend manager Martin O’Neill’s existing contract.
Euro 2016’s bumping up into a 24-team tournament should boost the Irish who join England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the draw, although they will be ranked in the lowest pot when the draw for the finals swings around on December 12.
But that had no affect last Monday night's celebrations as the players performed a lap of honour at the Aviva.
O'Neill hailed his group of players for overcoming the tension surrounding the game to make it through to France.
“I couldn’t be more proud, they’re a fantastic bunch of players,” he said. “They have put heart and soul into the games, they’ve carried us through matches when maybe we’ve missed that piece of absolute genius.
“That moment when the referee blows the whistle and you’re in France, it’s very special and so special because it means so much to so many people. It’s the nights that you live for.”
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O’Neill also had praise for assistant Roy Keane, Ireland’s former captain and also former player of Manchester United, adding: “Bringing Roy Keane in is as good a decision as I’ve made in quite some time.
“He’s been absolutely enormous for us. He’s not taking too many of the accolades, but he’s been fantastic for us, for myself, the backroom staff and the players.” —Daily Mail