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Republic of Ireland fans had too dreamed of a “fresh start” as there was renewed optimism before the Hungary game that the squad under Heimir Hallgrimsson was capable of qualifying for a first World Cup since 2002 after an unbeaten start to 2025.<\/p>\n
That optimism had effectively dissipated by 20:00 BST when they trailed Hungary 2-0 after 16 minutes as poor defending allowed Barnabas Varga and Roland Sallai to score.<\/p>\n
Hope returned as Hallgrimsson’s side roared back in the second half, with Evan Ferguson pulling one back before Sallai was sent off.<\/p>\n
Then, in the 93rd minute, came Idah’s big moment. He was in the right place at the right time to plant a towering header from Ryan Manning’s cross beyond Denes Dibusz.<\/p>\n
Despite rescuing a point, there was a lingering feeling of frustration of “what could have been” for the Republic of Ireland in a game many felt was must-win in this condensed campaign if they were to contend for qualification.<\/p>\n
They dominated after Sallai’s dismissal and pumped cross after cross into the box, but only really threatened twice, with Finn Azaz having a header clawed away superbly by Dibusz and Idah then showing the predatory instinct that other Irish players had lacked.<\/p>\n
Still, whilst evidently disappointed they could not take all three points, Idah pointed to their resilience to fight back as something to be proud of.<\/p>\n
“It was a bit of a strange one. To go 2-0 down early on is tough and a lot of people probably thought we were out of the game but to bring it back was great,” he added.<\/p>\n
“We didn’t lose the game is a positive, but we could have went on and won it. In previous games we go 2-0 down early on it probably kills us but we came back and fought well and unfortunate we didn’t get the three points.<\/p>\n
“You could look back on this game and it could be important for us. If you can’t win, don’t lose and that’s what we did tonight.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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