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a tearful troy parrot The Republic of Ireland have been hailed for their resilience after a brilliant hat-trick kept their World Cup dreams alive in dramatic fashion.
The 23-year-old AZ Alkmaar striker, who scored both goals in Thursday night’s remarkable 2-0 win portugalfired ireland Finished second in Group F and the March play-offs with a winner in stoppage time as they came back from a goal down twice Hungary 3-2 in Budapest.
Parrott, who had earlier converted a 15th-minute penalty and equalized with 10 minutes of normal time remaining, told RTÉ: “I’m really very emotional. They were tears of joy. Ah, what a night, what a night.”
“That’s why we love football, because things like this can happen. Look, I love where I’m from, so it means the world to me. My family is here…
“It’s the first time in years I’ve cried, I really can’t believe it. Everyone is crying. I said against Portugal that this is what dreams are made of, but tonight, I don’t think there will ever be a better night in my entire life.”
Daniel Lukasz had given the hosts the lead in the fourth minute at the Puskas Arena and after Parrott’s penalty the visitors came back, with Barnabas Varga putting Hungary ahead once again.
However, Heimir Hallgrimsson’s men refused to be beaten on a night when just a win was enough and after making the most of Finn Ajaz’s clever pass to equalise, Parrott ran on a Liam Scales knockdown to snatch victory at the death.
He said, “It’s really a fairy tale. You can’t even dream about it. Honestly, I don’t have words to describe my feelings right now.”
Ireland last won three consecutive games against Georgia, Moldova and Austria during qualification for the 2018 World Cup, but the stakes were much higher this time as Hallgrimson’s men took just one point from their opening two fixtures.
But if a disappointing 1-0 win over Armenia in Dublin was expected, Thursday night’s 2-0 win over Portugal was not and the chances of repeating the feat in Budapest were very long.
However, the never-say-die spirit of the Ireland teams that have flourished in recent times was in abundance to revive the campaign which ended in Yerevan in September.
Parrott said: “I think everyone wrote us off at the beginning of the group, and I can’t say it enough. There’s always a chance and we took the chance.
“I think everyone should be proud of the group of players we had out there. It’s beautiful to lose a game twice and then come back like that.”
As Parrott celebrated becoming the first man to claim a treble for Ireland in an away game – a feat which inspired dublin airport Hallgrimson was thinking about the bigger picture – jokingly naming himself Troy Parrott International Airport on his official X account.
The Icelander, whose hopes of earning a contract extension were looking bleak after September’s 2-1 defeat in Armenia, said: “It’s time to look back and think that this is an absolute opportunity and possibility for development not only for us but for Irish football, and we must cherish it and think about these guys.”
“I hope that in 10 years people will look back and say ‘These guys started it, this is the team that started this journey.’
“Success is not now, success is not that we won this game here, success is always a continuous journey in the right direction, that is what success is.
“This is not a place and a moment and we should just think about it. Let’s enjoy this moment, but let’s not forget where we are and where we are going.”