ITALIA ’90 FLASHBACK
ROMANIA 0 REPUBLIC OF IRELAND 0 (AET, Ireland won 5-4 on penalties) Monday, June 25, 1990, Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa IRELAND’s first penalty shoot-out ended in triumph as Dave O’Leary brought closure to two and a quarter hours of trench warfare in Genoa. What preceded the penalties wasn’t always pretty as Ireland trod a disciplinary tightrope against classy opponents — how Mick McCarthy wasn’t cautioned for his handling of Gheorghe Hagi was difficult to believe. The chief danger, Hagi was twice denied by Packie Bonner in the first half, and later in the second, as Ireland struggled to cope with his sorcery. The Irish strategy wasn’t helped by an early injury to John Aldridge, but his replacement, Tony Cascarino, along with Niall Quinn, both went close with headed efforts. At 4-4 in the shoot-out, Bonner denied Daniel Timofte and O’Leary seized his moment to send Ireland through to the quarter-finals.
WHAT THEY SAID...
‘I was the regular taker at Everton and felt it was my responsibility to go first. I was determined to go first and make it count.’ — Kevin Sheedy ‘It was time for another bloody toss who went first and I lost that one as well. I wanted to win that one more than anything. If you go first and score, it puts pressure on the other team.’- Mick McCarthy.
ROMANIA: Lung; Rednic, Andone, Popesca, Lupescu, Klein, Hagi, Sabau (Timofte 97), Rotariu, Balint, Raducioiu (Lupu 72).
REP OF IRELAND: Bonner; Morris, McCarthy, Moran, Staunton (O’Leary 93); Houghton, McGrath, Townsend, Sheedy; Aldridge (Cascarino 22), Quinn.
Irish penalty takers: 1 Sheedy, 2 Houghton, 3 Townsend, 4 Cascarino, 5 O’Leary. Referee: J Wright (Brazil).
Attendance: 31,818.