IRISH READY TO STEP UP A GEAR: Pages 50-51
O’Neill: we are devastated by play-off heartache and it is all down to that cruel penalty
A proud and emotional Michael O’Neill admitted his Northern Ireland team were devastated to have their World Cup dream shattered because of the ‘cruelty’ of the decisive penalty decision in the first leg last Thursday.
O’Neill was rightly proud of the performance after his brave and battling men drew 0-0 with Switzerland in Basel last night which allowed the Swiss to reach next summer’s finals in Russia, having won the play-off 1-0 on aggregate.
But O’Neill, his players and their Green and White Army of fans have been left feeling the pain of that Windsor Park penalty award
by Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan that proved decisive in this tie, when clearly the handball given against Corry Evans was non-existant.
“We’re devastated because of the way we lost and the goal that decided the tie,” stated a clearly upset O’Neill (left).
“The cruelty is in the poorness of the decision,” he said. “We’re missing out on the chance to go to the World Cup. We should still be playing now, still be playing extra-time now. Yes, Switzerland were the better team in the first leg but they didn’t score. We were the better team in Basel. So over two legs, for us to miss out, from the nature of decision and how it was given, is extremely cruel.”
Asked about his future, O’Neill said no-one should be making any rash decisions at this time. HEROIC Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Darren Randolph says Martin O’Neill’s side will take the initiative in tomorrow’s World Cup second-leg against Denmark in Dublin because it’s a case of “win or bust”.
But he also insisted they will also be fully ready for the third potential scenario of a penalty shoot-out, revealing he hasn’t been involved in one of those since the Milk Cup, aged 13 or 14.
Randolph (below) was the Republic saviour in Saturday’s 0-0 first leg in Copenhagen and, while he accepted it puts a bit of pressure on because the Republic don’t have an away goal, he said the mood is high due to the knowledge of the simple fact that one win will take them to Russia 2018.
“Yeah, we will take the initiative,” the Middlesbrough goalkeeper said. “We’ll be at home... it’s win or bust on Tuesday. We’re the home team so we’ll obviously have to get the result. Win on Tuesday, we go to Russia, it’s as simple as that.”
It could get a bit more complicated if it is again 0-0 and stays that way through extra-time, as it will go to penalties. While Randolph admitted he hasn’t actually played in a shoot-out since he was a youth player, he did point out that he has a good record saving spot-kicks recently.
“It’s been a while… probably not since the Milk Cup when I was 13 or 14. I wanna say we won but I can’t remember!” Randolph also said he would want to take a penalty if it came to it tomorrow.