"I am really, really emotional right now, they are tears of joy -- what a night, what a night. I can't believe it, I really can't believe it, this is why we love football because things like this can happen, I love where I'm from, so this means the world to me, my family are here. This is the first time I have cried in years, I really, really can't believe it."
"Everyone is crying, I said against Portugal this is what dreams are made of but I don't think I will ever have a better night in my whole life. It is a fairytale, you can't even dream about something like that, I have no words to describe the emotions right now. I think everyone wrote us off at the start of the group and I could not have said it enough that there is always a chance and we have taken the chance. I think everyone should be proud of the group of players that are over there, to be down in the game twice and then to come back like that is beautiful."
Troy Parrott scored a dramatic hat-trick with the decisive 96th-minute goal to deliver a 3-2 away victory over Hungary in Budapest. Parrott cancelled an early Daniel Lukacs penalty and equalised after Barnabas Varga's first-half strike before grabbing the stoppage-time winner. The result secured second place in the group for the Republic of Ireland behind Portugal, who won their match and took top spot, meaning Ireland advance to the March 2026 World Cup play-off shoot-out. The win kept Heimir Hallgrimsson's side alive in qualifying and produced an emotional celebration from Parrott and the Irish squad.
Read at ESPN.com
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