It isn’t a bad way for to celebrate your 100th appearance for your country.

On one of those classic nights of Irish football defiance, John O’Shea nipped past big Mats Hummels to score a goal against Germany that was 94 minutes, and as many years, in coming.

Just like that, Ireland got their first ever competitive result on a German football field against the home team and left the reigning world champions perplexed.

Bad form, perhaps, for the visiting Irish to achieve such an audacious result on the same date that the coalition government announced the most generous budget that Angela Merkel has ever permitted.

The locals flocked to the old coal mining town of Gelsenkirchen in the expectation of watching the Germans put on a show befitting of their summer exploits.

But their sombre October continued here.

They relied on a distance strike from Toni Kroos to take a 71st-minute lead and, although a hint of swagger entered their play in the moments afterwards, it was the Irish who finished more strongly.

Wes Hoolahan had a half chance in the 85th minute and with Martin O’Neill urging his players forward, a sustained and impudent period of pressure paid off to the delight and disbelief of the vocal travelling crowd. O’Shea’s goal was shocking and wonderful.

The Irish bench was overjoyed: Roy Keane hugged more Irish players last night than he ever did in his playing days.

Before hand, the Irish fans had entertained the locals with a boisterous chant: We’re gonna top the group.

Maybe not, but as the players floated out of the stadium around midnight, anything seemed possible.