Wednesday 15 October 2014 06:22, UK
Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill hailed his side's spirit after they snatched a last-gasp European qualifying draw away to world champions Germany.
John O’Shea’s injury-time finish in his 100th cap for his country cancelled out Toni Kroos’ second-half strike to maintain Ireland’s unbeaten record in Group D.
And O’Neill was full of praise for his players, who had to defend superbly to hold Joachim Low’s side and then refused to give in after their resistance was broken.
“It was a terrific effort,” O’Neill told Sky Sports. “We were backs to the wall in the first half.
“We formulated a plan to try and thwart them as much as we can and when we had the ball ourselves we had to try and manoeuvre it.
“For periods in the first half, we were under pressure but we had to take that into consideration. It was a similar situation in the second half.
“When they scored, that changed out mindset and we had to go in look of the equaliser and we kept going until the very, very end. Our spirit carried us through.”
O’Neill was particularly pleased for O’Shea, who became his country’s sixth centurion in Gelsenkirchen and was wearing the captain’s armband when he flicked in Jeff Hendrick’s cross in added time.
"You couldn’t have written that script for him," added O’Neill. "I am absolutely delighted for him. He has 100 caps now and that is no mean feat."
O’Shea was understandably delighted with the goal and the point that it earns.
"It was a very special moment because the group has a fantastic spirit and we didn't want to come off this pitch with just a 1-0 defeat," he said. "But that makes it a bit more special - we got something from the game."
The Sunderland defender also paid tribute to his team-mates, adding: "The manager put me forward with a couple of minutes to go and thankfully I was able to stick it away.
"But it was a big credit to the lads in front of me tonight. It was very determined and very dogged. It was a big, big performance but we came up with little bits of quality when we had to come out and play and that was very pleasing.
"Once they got that goal it was a big blow for us because we're looking towards the end of the game to maybe catch them a little bit. And they got that first goal with maybe 20 minutes to go so we had to come out a little bit more.
"But the manager said to us at half-time that even if we do go that goal down then we will have chances and we will have time to play. We were able to string together some lovely passes. It was special night and thankfully I was able to play my part."
