What a week for Troy Parrott!
The former Tottenham Hotspur player scored two goals for Ireland against Portugal last week before surpassing those heroics with a hat-trick against Hungary to send Ireland into the UEFA World Cup qualifying playoffs.
For those of you who haven’t seen the goal yet, it’s worth watching. And it’s worth watching it again:
I have no idea quite how this sequence of events unfolded. You have that last-ditch longball into the box, a bit of a wandering header and then Parrot somehow finds space between two Hungary defenders, beats the keeper and taps the ball into the back of the net with his toe.
Absolute scenes at the Puskas!
And for those of you who haven’t seen Parrott’s post-match interview yet, that’s also worth checking out:
It’s a humongous moment for Troy Parrott, and a huge moment for an Ireland team that less than a week ago seemed consigned to looking ahead to the 2028 Euros.
Instead they’ll be looking ahead to March, where they’ll partake in the semi-finals.
Fitzie’s track of the day: Tattoo’d Lady, by Rory Gallagher
And now for your links:
The Athletic ($$): “Tottenham vs Arsenal: How last season’s tears were followed by Spurs’ WSL revival”
BBC: “Frank had ‘unique’ Man Utd & Chelsea talks on same day”
The Irish Times: “Troy Parrott cries tears of joy after fairytale hat-trick books World Cup playoff place”
The Guardian: “England win every group game without conceding after Kane’s double sinks Albania”