Ireland’s World Cup joy: David O’Leary recalls his penalty v Romania

David O'Leary's famous penalty was the high point of the Republic of Ireland's World Cup adventure at Italia '90. Thursday marks 25 years since that glorious day. Here O'Leary talks to Adam Bate about his circuitous journey to Italy and shares his relief that his spot-kick hit the back of the net... "I knew walking up to get the ball I was going to put it to the goalkeeper's left and that's what I made sure I did," says David O'Leary. "There were about 20,000 brilliant Irish supporters behind the goal. They were so still and the eruption of green afterwards when the ball hit the net was absolutely amazing. It's a fantastic memory." He's not alone. O'Leary's winning strike in the penalty shoot-out against Romania in the 1990 World Cup has since been voted as the greatest moment in the history of Irish football. "The nation holds its breath," as commentator George Hamilton famously put it. For O'Leary, at the age of 32, it gave him a day in the World Cup sun that had looked to have passed him by. The Arsenal defender had made his debut for Ireland in 1976 but a fall-out with Jack Charlton saw him miss out on Euro '88 and so Italia '90 would be his first taste of a major international tournament. Despite the country being able to count on the sublime talents of Liam Brady for the best part of two decades, World Cup qualification had always eluded them. "We were in some very tough groups," explains O'Leary. "There was a group once where we finished with 10 points but lost out on goal difference. France went through and there were plenty of other teams who got through to that 1982 World Cup in Spain on eight points and nine points. We were very unlucky and I thought after that the chances of me making it would be very slim indeed.
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