Still breathless, it seemed, and excited at the remarkable way this game had finished, Robbie Brady sounded like a man who feels Ireland's Euro 2016 fight might have another round in it as the scorer of Wednesday night's winner started to contemplate a game against host national France in Lyon on Sunday.
“I don’t think we have anything to fear going into the weekend,” said the Norwich City midfielder, who was outstanding here in Lille even before he grabbed the dramatic winner that propelled Martin O’Neill’s side into the last 16 of the tournament. “We know they’re a top class team and they have some wonderful players but if we can stick together and click the way we did tonight then we can hurt anybody.
“We play against some of their players in the Premier League and we know some of them because they play on some of the biggest stages in the world. We know about them and we do our homework on every team we play.”
The French, you feel, may step up their own research on the Irish after this. Before last night, of course, Didier deschamps and co. would hardly have been concerning themselves with O'Neill's men but Brady's goal changed all that and the quality of the Ireland performance will cause the locals some real concern.
The Irish, though, will keep their heads down and press on. “We’ll just have to prepare as hard as we can because they’ll be a tough outfit but if click on the night then we will give them a difficult game. We’ll concentrate on us for now rather than the French but we know that they are a top class team and not ones to be taken lightly.”
Perhaps Italy took Ireland too lightly here but after making eight changes Antonio Conte's side were completely outplayed for long stretches and the Irish created enough chances to feel they can go even further in the competition if only they can build on this momentum.
The result was no flash in the pan,” he insisted. “This has been a two year project, the development of a group it wasn’t just about the work we had done this week or in the last few months.
“Obviously it was going to be difficult to break down such a relentless Italian side but we’ve managed to do that and we’ve managed to beat some of the best teams in the world.
As for his goal, he said: “I dunno. My body started to carry my legs into the box. I just trusted in Wes to put it where it hurts them and I’ve managed to get my head on it. I’m lost for words really, I’m over the moon, emotional. It’s unbelievable. Just have a look around and have a listen to what it means to everyone that’s involved, me included,” he said, clearly becoming emotional.
“I grew up waiting for this stage, dreaming about it since I was a little kid. To go and do it in front of my family is the best feeling in the world.What a fantastic night, I’m absolutely flabbergasted by it all.”
He and the rest of the players now head back to their base in Versailles where they start their preparations for Sunday with a light recovery session on Thursday morning. Whether they really can match this performance in just four days time remains to be seen but once again they have shown a remarkable ability to rise to an occasion and nobody, it seems, does that better than Brady.
