What a moment.
It was one of many iconic images that came out of Ireland’s stunning victory over Italy in Lille, a win which, in case you somehow missed it, secured a last-16 tie against hosts France in Lyon on Sunday.
Roy Keane and Martin O’Neill, the two men who have guided Ireland firstly through to Euro 2016 and then through one of the more difficult groups in the competition, locked in embrace on the pitch after Robbie Brady’s goal had won the game.
Both O’Neill and Keane often put up an impenetrable facade in public but in this moment you can see exactly what it meant to them. Exactly how invested they are in the team’s success.
Straight after the final whistle, Buffon comes over to Keane and O'Neill to congratulate them. Brilliant. #IRLITA pic.twitter.com/A3jEuYsz1B
— Tim Gatt (@TimGatt) June 22, 2016
O’Neill was back in Ireland’s base in Versailles on Thursday. But for Brady’s goal they would be checking out of their plush hotel and saying goodbye before heading for home.
Instead they are preparing for Ireland’s biggest match on the international stage in 14 years.
O’Neill was asked if he could reveal what Keane said to him during that exchange.
O'Neill asked what he said to Roy Keane at full time – "I told him to shave his beard, it was rustling my chin."
— Dion Fanning (@dionfanning) June 23, 2016
He claims that Keane told him that he was “an ugly sod” and that he replied with a barb about the Corkman’s beard.
“I told him to shave his beard,” O’Neill said. “It was rustling my chin. And I don’t want him to hug me again ever.
“He said, ‘You are an ugly sod’ with which I agreed wholeheartedly.
“I then retorted and said he wasn’t Paul Newman either.
Martin says he told Roy to shave at full – time and Roy called him an "ugly sod" #bantz #irl pic.twitter.com/0PLFpU8jA8
— Mikey Stafford (@me_stafford) June 23, 2016
“We were obviously delighted, delighted to win the game and to be part of that evening. Genuinely that is how we felt, we felt we were part of that evening. An evening that is not to be forgotten. Just to see the fans enjoy it, it made up for the Belgian game. More than made up for it.
“As I said last night, players and fans together, I think fusing together in a way that kept each other going.”
