Troy Parrott’s brilliant hat-trick, his third goal coming in the depths of added time, delivered the Republic of Ireland into the World Cup play-offs, denying a sickened Hungary at the death. The former Tottenham trainee, now playing for AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch Eredivisie, stunned Budapest’s Puskas Arena into silence, barring the ecstatic scenes among the Irish contingent. It capped a remarkable week after Parrott was the two-goal hero in Thursday’s defeat of Portugal in Dublin.
Parrott’s third goal, poked from the grasp of Hungary goalkeeper Denes Dibusz, came in the sixth minute of injury time, after a deft, falling-leaf finish for his 80th-minute equaliser. In the first half, after Daniel Lukacs had scored from a third-minute corner, on 15 minutes Parrott stepped up to coolly slot a penalty, defying a baying, partisan home crowd. “I said against Portugal that this is what dreams are made of, but I think tonight, I will never have a better night in my whole life,” Parrott said. “It is a fairytale. You can’t even dream about something like that.”
Hungary appeared set fair for the play-offs when Barnabas Varga chested down a ball just outside the box and unleashed a stunning left-foot half volley in the 37th minute. But as full time approached, with news of Portugal’s 9-1 defeat of Armenia, the home team cracked under pressure. Manager Heimir Hallgrímsson, who opted for direct tactics that confounded Portugal, noted: “They wasted their own time and that’s kind of funny. Now we need to use this moment and continue improving.”
After substitute Johnny Kenny was denied by Dibusz in added time, Parrott stole on to Liam Scales’s flicked header to poke home his winner, before being mobbed by teammates. Ireland now face two single-leg play-off games in March to qualify for the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The draw for those play-offs will be made on Thursday. Should they succeed, Ireland will play their first World Cup finals since reaching the last 16 in 2002.
