USA here we come?
There was a joke online on Sunday morning saying, ‘‘If Ireland can send a Turkey to the Eurovision surely, we can send a Parrott to the World Cup.’’
The first part of that referred to the TV puppet Dustin the Turkey representing the nation in the famous song contest in 2008; the second to Troy Parrott’s two World Cup goals against Portugal at the Aviva on Thursday night, and the possibility that he might perform similar heroics in Budapest that afternoon.
Little did anyone realize that the 23-year-old from Dublin’s north inner city would score a hat-trick on Sunday afternoon (morning time on the East Coast in the U.S.) in the dramatic 3-2 win over Hungary in the Puskas Arena in Budapest. It’s a win that takes the Boys in Green into a World Cup play-off next March. We will know our play-off opponents when the draw is made on Thursday.
Parrott, who now plays his club football in Holland with AZ Alkmaar, only started in Dublin because Evan Ferguson failed a fitness test. He scored twice in the first half against Portugal and Chiedozie Ogbene saw his effort come back off the post in what was brilliant first-half performance. Portugal really piled on the pressure early in the second and the Irish team were not able to get the ball past the half-way line and then Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off for elbowing Irish defender Dara O’Shea.
Cristiano was having an average game, but at that stage it didn’t matter which Portuguese player was sent off, having the extra man allowed the Irish to play their way out of defence and they were able to go on and created a few more scoring opportunities. We held on, thanks also to a late save from Caoimhin Kelleher. That was our first win over Portugal in over 20 years and three days later we secured our first competitive win over Hungary since June 1989 when we wno 2-0 at Lansdowne Road.
For the game in Budapest on Sunday manager Heimir Hallgrimsson made just one change, bringing in Jayson Molumby for Jack Taylor in midfield. Hungary applied early pressure and their scored from their third corner when Daniel Lukacs’ header beat Kelleher in the 4th minute. VAR ruled that Lukacs was not offside, but 11 minutes later VAR came to our rescue when Ogbene was deemed to have fouled in the penalty area. After a long delay Troy Parrott made no mistake to score his 8th international goal. Kelleher made a great save from Sallia and then in the 37th minute Varga put the hosts ahead again with unstoppable effort; he controlled the ball with his chest, swing his left foot and the ball nestled in the top corner of the Irish net to give Hungary a 2-1 lead at half-time.
In the second half Hungary continued to enjoy most possession with Liverpool’s Szoboszlai continuing to cause problems with his trickery and clever playmaking. Adam Idah, who had replaced the injured Ogbene, had the ball in the net in the 58th minute but he was offside. Kelleher kept Ireland in the game with some crucial saves and then in the 80th minute Azaz’s through ball found Parrott and he lifted the ball over the goalkeeper to bring us level. Hungary were in no hurry to take free kicks and naturally tried to waste time, content with their home draw, which would put them through. But Ireland continued to press with another sub, Festy Ebosele, doing well on the right wing. Celtic’s John Kenny came on to make his senior debut and he almost won it, but the Hungarian goalkeeper got a hand to his effort. Then with the clock ticking into the sixth minute of injury time the ball was played back to goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher who at that stage was standing just inside the Hungarian half of the field. He lofted the ball into the penalty area where Liam Scales got a vital touch, Parrott timed his run perfectly and squeezed the ball past Dibusz for his hat-trick.
It was the first time an Irish player has scored a hat-trick outside of Ireland, and the first one overall since Robbie Keane got one in 2014. As it happened, the winning goal was similar to Robbie’s late goal against Germany in Ibaraki in the 2002 World Cup.
There was time for one more Hungarian attack, but Ireland held out, cue elation from the Irish players and supporters, and devastation tens of thousands of home fans in the stadium.
The win should ensure that manager Heimir Hallgrimsson will get a new contract for the Euro 2028 campaign. Afterwards Heimir said: ‘‘It was a strange game. We seemed to be nervous at the beginning, struggling with movements and defending too late and not aggressive enough. But we threw in three strikers in the end and it worked. The guys deserved what happened and congratulations to the Irish nation for having these guys.’’
Hat-trick hero Troy Parrott, whose career has been hampered by injury, was very emotional afterwards when speaking to RTE reporter Tony O’Donoghue. Parrott said: “This is why we love football, because things like this can happen. I love where I’m from in Dublin, so this means the world to me. My family is here. It’s the first time I have cried in years, I really can’t believe it. Everyone wrote us off at the start of the qualifying campaign, and I couldn’t have said it enough, there’s always a chance and we have taken the chance. I said after the win over Portugal that this is what dreams are made of, but this win tonight, I don’t think I will ever have a better night in my whole life.”
Irish XI on Sunday: Kelleher, Coleman, O’Brien, Collins (capt), O’Shea, Scales, Azaz, Cullen, Molumby, Ogbene, Parrott.
Sub used: Ebosle, Manning, Idah, Kenny, Taylor.
N.I. also through to playoffs
Meanwhile Northern Ireland, who were beaten 1-0 by Slovakia in Kosice last Friday, finished third in their group behind Germany and Slovakia, but they will also be in the play-off draw tomorrow, thanks to a good performance in the most recent Nations League campaign.
