‘It just goes to show I have a lot of belief in myself’ – patience pays off for two-goal hero Troy Parrott

Troy Parrott celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal

Pointing to the sky with arms outreached in celebration of the goals which plunged a sorry Portugal into mourning was, he says, a gesture of his religious faith.

But in football terms, Troy Parrott says he never lost belief in his own ability to deliver as his Ireland career has, at last, moved onto the big stage. Parrott filled the hole left by the absence, through injury, of Evan Ferguson and scored twice in the first half to give Ireland their most impressive win in a qualifier in 10 years, since another striker (Shane Long) downed the Germans.