CONOR MCMANUS WAS high on life after Ireland U21s overturned Lee Carsley’s treble-chasing England to reach the European Championship play-offs.
The Gillingham left-back scored the lead goal, with Tommy Lonergan bagging the other pair, sparking scenes of ecstasy around a sold-out Turner’s Cross.
“Honestly, I can’t describe it. It’s the closest thing to what I imagine drugs would be like,” McManus beamed.
“Everything just happened so quickly. I get a bit of a nosebleed up the other end, so not having time to think helped me, just based off instinct, and luckily it went in, so I can’t complain.
“The fans were unbelievable. They helped us through the whole game. That’s just an Irish crowd through and through.
“It’s an honour to play for your country and especially on a night where you can make history. And we did make history. It’s always going to be special.”
McManus celebrates. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
The setting was completely unlike McManus’s previous international goals. He netted a friendly double on his debut against Hungary in Spain 18 months ago.
“Whether you’re scoring in front of 10 people and your mum or 10,000 people, it all matters,” smiled the Cabinteely native.
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McManus captained Ireland during the March window, but didn’t get the nod from Jim Crawford against either Kazakhstan or Slovakia.
“It was difficult. I was frustrated when I was not playing. I spoke to Jim and he assured me that I was going to get my chances,” he said.
“Listen, it’s football. Football is a mental game. You don’t know which way it’s going to go. You’ve got to keep the head, you’ve got to keep working hard, and you’re going to get your opportunities. That’s the main thing. Once you get your opportunity, you have to take it.”
They needed all that belief against an England squad valued at €400 million, which included Fulham’s Arsenal-linked wonderkid Josh King, Ethan Nwaneri, on loan at Borussia Dortmund from the Gunners, and Spurs’ Archie Gray.
“It was just all about faith. The lads had faith. We’d proven over the last two or three games the trajectory we were on,” said McManus.
“Our main message was that we’re just as good as them on our day and we proved that.
“It’s a tough place to come for them. We knew that if we put together a performance, we were going to get the better of them, and that’s the confidence you have to have in yourselves.
“No matter what the outside noise is saying, you have to have that belief in yourself, because in football it’s a horrible game. Nobody else is going to have that belief for you.
“Like my mum always says, if you don’t have the confidence in yourself, nobody else will.”
Ireland are play-off-bound. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
On the home support, McManus added: “The energy that the crowd gave us was unbelievable.
“We’re an emotional team, but I like to think we’re emotional in a smart way where you can rein it in when you need to and not get overly emotional and make sure we’re sticking to the game plan.”
Beating the Young Lions capped a remarkable Irish fightback following a 4-0 defeat to Andorra and 1-1 draw with Moldova. That left them eight points adrift of second-placed Slovakia with just four games to turn it all around.
“The quality is abundant and we just needed to find a way to best put that on the pitch,” said McManus.
“We knew ourselves, let alone what the media were saying. We knew ourselves that the performances weren’t up to our own standards, let alone the country’s standards.
“We had confidence in ourselves that once that clicked, we’d start getting performances.
“Tonight shows that we can compete against the best, and I look forward to November and hopefully next summer.”
Friday’s draw will reveal Ireland’s play-off rivals as the Boys in Green bid to make the U21 Euros for the first time. The potential opponents are Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, and Turkiye.
“Hopefully we get a good team,” said McManus. No matter who we get, we’ve proven that we can compete against any team that’s put in front of us on our day. That’s the main thing.”
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'Like my mum always says, if you don't have the confidence in yourself, nobody else will'
CONOR MCMANUS WAS high on life after Ireland U21s overturned Lee Carsley’s treble-chasing England to reach the European Championship play-offs.
The Gillingham left-back scored the lead goal, with Tommy Lonergan bagging the other pair, sparking scenes of ecstasy around a sold-out Turner’s Cross.
“Honestly, I can’t describe it. It’s the closest thing to what I imagine drugs would be like,” McManus beamed.
“Everything just happened so quickly. I get a bit of a nosebleed up the other end, so not having time to think helped me, just based off instinct, and luckily it went in, so I can’t complain.
“The fans were unbelievable. They helped us through the whole game. That’s just an Irish crowd through and through.
“It’s an honour to play for your country and especially on a night where you can make history. And we did make history. It’s always going to be special.”
The setting was completely unlike McManus’s previous international goals. He netted a friendly double on his debut against Hungary in Spain 18 months ago.
“Whether you’re scoring in front of 10 people and your mum or 10,000 people, it all matters,” smiled the Cabinteely native.
McManus captained Ireland during the March window, but didn’t get the nod from Jim Crawford against either Kazakhstan or Slovakia.
“It was difficult. I was frustrated when I was not playing. I spoke to Jim and he assured me that I was going to get my chances,” he said.
“Listen, it’s football. Football is a mental game. You don’t know which way it’s going to go. You’ve got to keep the head, you’ve got to keep working hard, and you’re going to get your opportunities. That’s the main thing. Once you get your opportunity, you have to take it.”
They needed all that belief against an England squad valued at €400 million, which included Fulham’s Arsenal-linked wonderkid Josh King, Ethan Nwaneri, on loan at Borussia Dortmund from the Gunners, and Spurs’ Archie Gray.
“It was just all about faith. The lads had faith. We’d proven over the last two or three games the trajectory we were on,” said McManus.
“Our main message was that we’re just as good as them on our day and we proved that.
“It’s a tough place to come for them. We knew that if we put together a performance, we were going to get the better of them, and that’s the confidence you have to have in yourselves.
“No matter what the outside noise is saying, you have to have that belief in yourself, because in football it’s a horrible game. Nobody else is going to have that belief for you.
“Like my mum always says, if you don’t have the confidence in yourself, nobody else will.”
On the home support, McManus added: “The energy that the crowd gave us was unbelievable.
“We’re an emotional team, but I like to think we’re emotional in a smart way where you can rein it in when you need to and not get overly emotional and make sure we’re sticking to the game plan.”
Beating the Young Lions capped a remarkable Irish fightback following a 4-0 defeat to Andorra and 1-1 draw with Moldova. That left them eight points adrift of second-placed Slovakia with just four games to turn it all around.
“The quality is abundant and we just needed to find a way to best put that on the pitch,” said McManus.
“We knew ourselves, let alone what the media were saying. We knew ourselves that the performances weren’t up to our own standards, let alone the country’s standards.
“We had confidence in ourselves that once that clicked, we’d start getting performances.
“Tonight shows that we can compete against the best, and I look forward to November and hopefully next summer.”
Friday’s draw will reveal Ireland’s play-off rivals as the Boys in Green bid to make the U21 Euros for the first time. The potential opponents are Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, and Turkiye.
“Hopefully we get a good team,” said McManus. No matter who we get, we’ve proven that we can compete against any team that’s put in front of us on our day. That’s the main thing.”
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