Seamus Coleman came of age as the Republic of Ireland captain in Lille on Wednesday night.
He won the toss and elected to play into the Italian end in the first half, fully expecting the Irish fans to “suck the ball in” during the second half.
He was a picture of snarling aggression and inspirational motivation from the get go and after one of the greatest wins in Irish football history he was quick to pay credit to his former Everton team-mate Shane Duffy.
The Derryman did not even know he was starting until he arrived at this cauldron of a stadium ahead of the match. His first competitive appearance and he was immense alongside Richard Keogh.
Speaking to SportsJOE after the game, Coleman was quick to remind us that Duffy was nearly not around to play in this game. Shane Duffy very nearly died.
He suffered a lacerated liver in a training game accident, which caused him to lose 3.6 litres of blood. That he is alive is incredible. That he just played a starring role in Ireland’s first major tournament victory in 14 years is a freaking miracle.
“I thought Shane Duffy was incredible, for his first competitive game,” said Coleman. “Let us not forget Shane Duffy was nearly dead six years ago. You don’t what I mean?
“To be back on the pitch is massive but to put in a performance like that is incredible. He is such a good lad and we have been together since Everton and I am so proud of him tonight.”
Coleman was speaking after a very special night and he tried to put into words his emotions when Robbie Brady got on the end of a gorgeous Wes Hoolahan cross to score the late goal that put Ireland into the last-16 of Euro 2016.
“It’s incredible, the emotion I felt when that goal went in. I fully felt like we deserved it. You don’t know if it is going to come and then it came. My god, it is going to be a night we remember. You were nearly in tears as it happened,” said the full-back, who paid tribute to Hoolahan after his miss that looked like being so costly.
“I’ll tell you what. You have to give Wes a hell of a lot of credit because a lot of players would have put their heads down after that, or sulked, or thought ‘I’m gonna be the one who missed the chance’ but not Wes.
“He got on with it, and what a delivery and what a run from Robbie Brady. What a night for us all.”
Listen to the whole interview below.
