REPUBLIC OF IRELAND v ITALY PLAYER REACTION:THE MORNING after the night before and Liam Lawrence is still feeling the pain of that late, late Italian equaliser, while at the same time reflecting with pride on what he described as "the biggest game of my life".
“Yeah, a mixture of emotions,” he said. “I was absolutely devastated, we were so close to beating them and giving them a serious problem going in to the Cyprus game. But it was just one of those things, it wasn’t meant to be, it happens. It was just disappointing to concede so late.”
How did the manager take it?
“The lads said when he was walking down the tunnel, he was screaming in Italian. But in the dressingroom he didn’t show any of that. He was disappointed, but he tried to give us confidence so we can bring it in to the next game. And that’s the way he is, if he’s disappointed about something he’ll let you know, but he won’t dwell on it and kill your confidence.
“But we spoke about it. It’s something we need to sort out. The first goal as well, the smallest guy heading it in. We just need to be a bit more ruthless, especially with a couple of minutes left, they just did us on the break.
“It’s about being professional, doing everything you can to win the game. It’s something the Italians are very good at and something Trapattoni has been doing all of his life – and it’s something we need to do too.”
Despite the agony of the ending it was, said Lawrence, a special night for him, a highpoint in a career that sometimes seemed to be going nowhere. “I got released from Nottingham Forest as a young kid, 14, then Mansfield took me on. I went to Sunderland, left under a bit of a cloud, but sometimes it’s a wake-up call when you’re released by the bigger clubs. I had to work my way up, had to get my head down and work hard.
“So, yeah, last night was special. I had an inkling earlier in the week that I would play, it showed that the manager had faith in me. He does his homework, leaves nobody out in the cold, you just have to impress him. I was just hoping and praying I’d get in, so when the team was named I was delighted and so were the family.
“Before the game I was a little bit nervous, I’ve played over 300 games but this was the biggest of my career, but once the whistle blows the nerves go out the window. I enjoyed every minute of it, getting the ball, passing, even chasing (Fabio) Grosso back. The manager showed me some clips of him privately, he plays as a winger at times and causes problems. There was a lot of tracking back to be done, it’s hard work, but I was delighted to see him go off.”
Ireland, of course, took the lead through a Stoke one-two when Glenn Whelan fired home Lawrence’s free-kick from 25 yards. “We hadn’t worked on that specific move,” said Lawrence, “but we tried a few things in training, short free-kicks and corners. Myself, Glenn and Keith (Andrews) spoke about it before I took it and thankfully it worked.
“It was an unbelievable finish from him, in a game of massive importance. Very emotional for him. He’s done it at Stoke, he scores from outside the box quite a bit. He’s got it in his locker and he’d proved he can do it at highest level.”
Seán St Ledger, of course, thought he had scored a famous winning goal against Italy, and having that taken away added to his disappointment at full-time.
“Yeah, it’s a night I won’t forget, I’ve scored against (Gianluigi) Buffon, one of the best keepers in the world, so that’s not bad, is it? But I just wish the circumstances were different, it would have been a lot more special if we’d got the three points.
“Before the game everyone thought a draw would be a great result against the world champions, but to get so close and to concede in the last few minutes is desperately disappointing. We played very well. We have a great never-give-in attitude. But we’re in the play-offs now and we’ll look forward to that.”
John O’Shea, meanwhile, looked back on the move that led to Italy’s second equaliser, which started with his error in midfield. “We had a throw-in down on their corner flag. The guy headed it away. The ball broke between me and (Vincenzo) Iaquinta, I’ve got out just in front of him, missed it. Next thing (Andrea) Pirlo plays the ball back over and they are breaking away. The guy scuffed it, but sent Shay the wrong way.
“They got out of jail. They were devastated when we got that winning goal . . .,” he said, and the laughter prompted him to quickly correct himself. “Sorry, when we got the goal to go ahead. But, should have been . . .”
