players after victory over Germany.
Martin O'Neill paid tribute to his Republic of Ireland players after
they recorded a stunning 1-0 victory over world champions
Germany in Euro 2016 qualifying.
Shane Long's goal 20 minutes from time sealed the victory in
Dublin on Thursday, a win that guarantees Ireland at least a
play-off place in their bid to qualify for the tournament in France
next year.
O'Neill was proud of his team and was keen to stress the scale
of their achievement against a side who won the World Cup in
2014.
"The whole team did magnificently," O'Neill told RTE. "It was a
great, great team effort. We obviously had to withstand a lot of
pressure during the course of the game as you would expect,
they are the world champions.
"We coped with the pressure and became really dangerous on
the break. The players put in a fantastic effort and they deserve
it. To beat the world champions is a sensational effort.
"For us to win it is an historic night, especially when you
consider the injuries, for instance Seamus Coleman and world-
class players were missing here - we can't afford to have those
kind of players missing in our team.
"Shane Long came off the bench scores his wondergoal. He got
a goal against Poland as well too. Cyrus Christie was fantastic
coming in, Jeff Hendrick is growing - everyone has been
important and it has to be like that."
Ireland now face Poland in their final game on Sunday knowing
a victory or a draw where they score at least two goals will be
enough to seal automatic qualification.
O'Neill added: "We have still got a big struggle ahead of us [in
Poland] - it is massive for us.
"You would think beating the Germans and them taking only one
point out of six for us then you would deserve more from that,
but it wasn't to be.
"But we have reached the play-offs now and we can go for it on
Sunday now."
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