Robbie Brady admitted that his head wasn’t really working following a historic night for the Republic of Ireland at Euro 2016.
Brady nodded Ireland into the last 16 in France, his late goal securing a dramatic 1-0 win over Italy in Lille.
Interviewed on RTÉ Sport on the pitch in the direct aftermath of an emotional night he said he couldn’t process what had just happened.
“I don’t know what to say - my head isn’t really working,” he admitted.
“What a moment for everyone involved. We said we had a job to do for everyone who had come here - we said we were going to get to the last 16 and then go again.
“Look around and see what it means to people. I grew up dreaming about this and to do it in front of my family is the best feeling int he world.”
Substitute Wes Hoolahan provided the pin-point cross for Brady to latch on to, erasing memories for Hoolahan’s miss just moments earlier when he found himself through one-on-one on the Italian goal.
“My legs carried me into the box and I trusted Wes to get it in to me. I just got my head to it. I’m over the moon now, it’s emotional.”
Ireland take on hosts France in the next round on Sunday in the round of 16, with kick-off in Lyon at 2pm.
And even amongst the emotion of Lille, Brady was quick to turn the focus to this weekend’s game.
“We’ve done it again,” he said. “We roll on - the next game is Sunday and we need to regroup and go again, but what a fantastic night.”
“It’s Stuttgart, it’s New Jersey, they’re all rolled into one!” The whistle blows on one of our greatest nights #IRLhttps://t.co/EMQf92SLDn
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 22, 2016
