Ireland stunned Germany as John O’Shea snatched a last-grasp draw for his football team in the third round of Euro qualifiers.
Germany dominated for most part of the game but Toni Kroos’ long-range effort wasn’t enough as Ireland’s John O’Shea cancelled out the recently crowned World Champions’ lead in the dying seconds of the game Tuesday night, reports Xinhua .
The current FIFA world champions dictated the pace from the kick-off against their visitors who opted to sit deep.
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The hosts needed just five minutes to create the first promising chance through youngster Erik Durm, who rattled the woodwork with a long range shot from 31 metres.
However, it remained Germany’s only noteworthy chance in the first half as they lacked the ideas to overcome Ireland’s well-positioned bulwark.
Germany piled on the pressure after the restart and created chances through Lukas Podolski, Karim Bellarabi, Toni Kroos and Thomas Mueller.
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Nevertheless, the Germans had to wait until the 71st minute before Kroos broke the deadlock. The Real Madrid midfielder slotted home with a low shot from outside the box with assistance of the left post.
Germany’s opener was an awakening call for the visitors as they frenetically pressed for the equaliser in the closing period.
Ireland’s Jeff Hendrick assisted O’Shea in the box, who poked home into the bottom right to restore parity against the run of play in the 94th minute.
“We are of course very disappointed. Suffering such a late goal is very disappointing. We were just too naive in the last minutes and failed to extend the lead,” Germany’s head coach Joachim Loew said.
With the result Germany are now fourth in group D with four points while Ireland sit in second place with seven points.
Germany will face Gibraltar and Ireland will take on Scotland in a memorable tie in the upcoming fourth round of the Euro qualifiers.