A familiar tale of World Cup playoff agony awaited the Republic of Ireland in Prague, but this was no hard luck story. Heimir Hallgrímsson’s team twice had the Czech Republic where they wanted them, in normal time and in a penalty shootout, and twice they let them off the hook. Dreams of a first World Cup in 24 years evaporated as a consequence.
Ireland led 2-0 after 23 minutes of a scrappy semi-final and 3-2 after the first six penalties of the shootout, but the momentum built on the back of outstanding qualifying wins over Portugal and Hungary could not be sustained. The misery of this latest playoff defeat – Ireland’s fifth loss in six World Cup playoff fixtures – will be heightened by the realisation it was so unnecessary.
A needless penalty conceded by Ryan Manning allowed the Czech Republic back into the contest moments after a calamitous own goal by the Czech goalkeeper Matej Kovar had doubled the visitors lead, delivered by Troy Parrott’s sixth goal of the campaign. The pattern of the contest turned on the Czech penalty. The Republic, dominant initially, tried to defend a slender advantage throughout the remainder of normal time and were doing so comfortably until the Wolves defender Ladislav Krejci headed in an 86th minute equaliser. Extra time saw the hosts control the first half, with Tomas Soucek missing a fine opportunity, and Ireland the second.
