Kevin Doyle believes there are major parallels between the Republic of Ireland's World Cup play-off exit against Czechia and the famous 2009 defeat to France.
Ireland were just four minutes away from a famous victory when Ladislav Krejci headed Czechia level on 86 minutes, on a night when Ireland had led 2-0 after just 23 minutes.
The game went to penalties and Finn Azaz and Alan Browne saw their efforts saved by Matej Kovar, ending Ireland's World Cup dreams.
It was an impressive fightback from the Czechs, who looked dead and buried in the first half before a sloppily conceded penalty gave them a way back into the game.
Speaking on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast, Doyle had sympathy for the Ireland players and he drew comparisons with his 2009 team’s heartbreaking defeat to France in the infamous Thierry Henry handball match.
However, like in 2009, he also believes that Ireland should have had resolve to see the game out.
He said: "The players will be exceptionally frustrated because they know they had it, they had that game. It was theirs for the taking.
"It reminds me of the play-off in France.
"We got beat by the Thierry Henry handball, and he took all the stick and everyone was like 'poor you’ and all that.
"But we were brilliant that night and the frustration for me from that game was we should have won that game before he ever handballed it, before it ever went to extra time like last night.
"I think the players deep down will know they let that one slip away and like I felt we did that time in France.
"It's the same sort of feeling, there’s no one else to blame only yourselves because it was such a good opportunity."
While the penalty shootout ultimately decided the outcome, for Doyle, it was Ryan Manning’s concession of that first-half penalty that turned the match around.
"Did you see the pictures of the Czechs going to their manager on the bench when we went 2-0 up? They were gone. We were looking like we're going to steamroll it.
"The crowd was gone. Irish fans were in control of the stadium. The players were in control of the pitch and how you could not see Czechia coming back and a moment of madness in the box.
"Ryan, I think will, more so than the two lads who missed the penalties, he'll be the one going, ‘what was I doing?’"
