World media reaction to Ireland reaching Euro 2016

The reaction around the world to last night’s events at the Aviva Stadium has been very positive from an Irish point of view with a lot of praise heaped on Martin O’Neill’s team.

Perhaps the best line comes from the pink pages of Italy’s Gazzeta dello Sport which says that this Irish team will “make a fool of their Euro 2012 campaign where they went home with three losses from three games, one goal scored and nine conceded (two of which were against Italy).”

Unsurprisingly, L’Equipe in France made reference to Thierry Henry’s handball in Paris six years ago.

“In 2010, Ireland didn’t compete in the World Cup after being eliminated by France following a famous refereeing error. Six years later, they were given a very generous penalty by the referee to open the scoring against Bosnia in the second leg.”

Glenn Moore in The Independent also made reference to the dubious penalty given against Ervin Zukanovic.

“Six years is a long time to wait for the capriciousness of refereeing decisions to even out but it was worth it for the Republic of Ireland last night. It may be of little consolation to those players denied a place at the 2010 World Cup by the official’s failure to spot Thierry Henry’s infamous handball in the Paris play-off, but fortune finally favoured the Irish.”

They were not the only ones to do so with the Daily Mail’s Craig Hope going along the lines that Ireland saw justice for that heartbreaking moment in the French capital.

“The Republic of Ireland have waited six years for pay-back since Thierry Henry’s infamous handball and it could not have been sweeter as they booked their place at Euro 2016.

Martin O’Neill’s heroes — inspired by Jon Walters’ match-winning double — are heading to France, of all places, the scene of Henry’s intervention in the build-up to the goal that eliminated Ireland in a 2010 World Cup play-off.

The officials failed to spot a blatant handball that night in Paris. Here, they saw one that barely existed when Daryl Murphy’s first-half cross brushed the arm of Bosnia defender Ervin Zukanovic, standing just a few yards from the Ireland striker.”

In the same newspaper Ian Ladyman writes an ode to Martin O’Neill and the influence he has on this Ireland team.

“There is an old saying in football that a manager cannot influence his team once they ‘cross the white line’ on to the field. It is rubbish, of course. Good teams play in the image of their manager, they represent him in their attitude, approach and diligence. Bad teams simply scatter in the wrong direction.

Here in Dublin, O’Neill’s team performed for him, they performed like him. They were dogged and cussed and determined and disciplined. O’Neill was all of these things back in the days when Brian Clough told him he was no good at Nottingham Forest. Later, he was all of these things as he took Leicester City to places nobody thought they could go.”

Writing in The Guardian, Daniel Taylor put into context just how impressive the achievement is. It’s an excellent point and one worth remembering when the team regularly comes in for such heavy criticism.

"This is a team featuring three players from Championship clubs, a goalkeeper from West Ham's reserves and a back-up from Millwall, currently ninth in League One. The only constant theme has been their spirit of togetherness and Jon Walters, the epitome of that team ethic, talked later about it being the outstanding night in his professional life."

Remember, the Bosnian team from last night contained four players playing in this year’s Champions League. Ireland have none.

In the Daily Telegraph Luke Edwards also pays tribute to how O'Neill and Roy Keane have turned this Ireland team around since taking over.

“When O’Neill and Keane took over two years ago, Irish football had a self-esteem problem. The glory days were gone and supporters were braced themselves for years in the wilderness, despite their glamorous management team.

O’Neill has changed that. This Ireland team are a classic O’Neill side, fearless, dedicated and never willing to accept defeat.”

And, finally, Bosnian newspaper Dnevi Avaz was gracious in defeat, praising Robbie Brady as "excellent" and lamenting their own team's shortcomings. They did also point out that the penalty decision was "dubious".