![\"it](\"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/it-ir.jpg\")
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Unexpected 1-0 win by Martin O’Neill’s men also dashes Turkish hopes of making it to tournament’s last 16.<\/strong><\/p>\n A Republic of Ireland team which was widely expected to be eliminated by Italy from the Euro 2016 stunned the tournament by beating the Azzurri 1-0 in Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The Irish win, when combined with Belgium’s 1-0 victory over Sweden in the night’s other Group E clash, also dashed Turkish hopes of qualifying for the last 16.<\/p>\n In the first half Ireland were a team transformed for the one which slumped to a miserable 3-0 defeat to Belgium on Saturday. The men in green needed a win to make it through to the last 16, whereas Italy \u2013 who made no less than eight changes to their starting lineup \u2013 were already assured of a place.<\/p>\n Ireland started strongly and a number of attempts by players like Jeff Hendrick \u2013 whose 9th-minute effort when just wide \u2013 and Daryl Murphy’s header, could have paid off.<\/p>\n Although Italy dominated possession in the first half, it was the Irish \u2013 backed by a chorus of green-clad passionate fans \u2013 who looked more intent on scoring, knowing that nothing less than a win would do.<\/p>\n At the end of the first half Martin O’Neill’s men were left furious when Derryman James McClean was bundled over in the penalty box, but Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan was unmoved.<\/p>\n In the second half, Italy looked brighter, with the new starters playing for team places in the last 16. However, Ireland showed their scoring intent, with Seamus Coleman’s 57th-minute shot forcing a save from Italian ‘keeper Salvatore Sirigu.<\/p>\n Ireland’s intensity in the second half began to take its toll, with O’Neill taking off Murphy for Aiden McGeady in the 70th minute. Ireland’s Wes Hoolahan, who scored in the 1-1 opening draw against Sweden came on in the 77th minute and was joined later by veteran striker Robbie Keane as the Irish pressed for a goal.<\/p>\n Robbie Brady’s dramatic 85th-minute header sent the Irish fans and manager O’Neill into a frenzy and the Irishmen held on to secure a historic victory \u2013 the side’s best competitive win over Italy since the 1994 World Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Unexpected 1-0 win by Martin O’Neill’s men also dashes Turkish hopes of making it to tournament’s last 16. A Republic of Ireland team which was widely expected to be eliminated by Italy from the Euro 2016 stunned the tournament by beating the Azzurri 1-0 in Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille on Wednesday. The Irish win, when combined […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[439],"class_list":["post-3453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","tag-euro-2016"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3455,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3453\/revisions\/3455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}