John Egan had the game of his life. The Sheffield United defender scored what was almost a magical winner at Estádio Algarve and he really should have walked off with an unforgettable assist if Aaron Connolly swallowed the yips and buried a late chance, but most of all he defended like one of the great Irish centre halves that came before him.
That big game toughness is in his genes.
“Just honestly gutting,” said Egan after Ronaldo broke Irish hearts with goal number 110 and 111 for Portugal. “We’re all gutted inside there. To put in that performance away from home against a world class team and one of the best ever in it, we really felt like there was something in there for us tonight. To walk away with nothing is very disappointing. Looking back on it, it felt like a really good performance.”
It was and always will be but that is the story of Ireland under Stephen Kenny; good against the greats but not good enough to bank any points.
Egan’s goal was special for more reasons than anyone could have known. He saw his mum after it hit the net.
"I usually go around the back but Shane Duffy, I think, just said 'get across the front', so I just managed to get across the front, glanced it and it was just in front of my mum so it was special
"It was like a Niall Quinn knock down back in the day and we caused them problems all night," he said of the Connolly miss. "Adam Idah led the line unbelievably, he is up against two world class centre-halves and he absolutely dominated them from start to finish and we created openings on the counter."
Of Cristiano Ronaldo all he could say was what happened.
“I thought we limited him all night. He was drifting out to the left and we contained him as best we could but two chances and two goals and that’s why he had the career he has had and regarded as one of the best players ever. It’s just disappointing that we couldn’t keep him quiet for the whole game.”
This result, on the surface, is why nobody in Portugal, not players nor media, appeared to do any research on Ireland, with the exception of Fernando Santos, who inadvertently prepared for this fixture by scouting Portugal's Euro opponents Hungary last June and Serbia, their only true rivals to top Group A.
Nobody else took the time to glance at the Irish squad, not even The Público correspondent whose match preview warned readers of the threats presented by Premier League stalwarts including the currently clubless Robbie Brady.
This is why nobody bothered to even Google search the lambs for slaughter at the altar of international football’s greatest ever goal scorer: “rei does goleadores” as he is now known.
The King even spoke afterwards about putting a modicum of space between himself and Duffy to create history in Faro.
“I’m very happy,” said Ronaldo after snatching the points with two crushing headers as the seconds ticked down, “not only because I beat the record, but for the special moments that we had. Two goals at the end of the game is so tough, but I have to appreciate what the team did until the end.
“For the supporters, I’m so glad.”
A crowd of less than 8,000 sounded like 100,000 when Ronaldo levelled matters and it turned into the Colosseum, right when the Lions start tearing into Christian flesh, as he nodded his 111th international strike to steal a well earned draw from Kenny’s courageous Ireland side.
“It’s part of the game, it’s part of the business, really. Sometimes you score, sometimes you miss, it’s part of the business,” the billionaire shrugged after Gavin Bazunu’s penalty save appeared to stall the coronation. “But I still believed to the end of the game, so I’m so glad to score and to win the game.”
