TODAY is the 30th anniversary of Ireland’s greatest result — the 1-0 win over Italy in the opening game of the 1994 World Cup.
Jack Charlton’s side had reached the quarter-finals in 1990 and were looking to go even further in the USA.
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And what a start they made in New Jersey.
SunSport’s Owen Cowzer trawled through the archives to tell the story of that glorious Saturday in the players’ and Charlton’s own words from that time.
THE BUILD-UP
Ireland travelled to America with a team to be feared.
Manchester United had just won the Double with Denis Irwin and Roy Keane — at the time the most expensive player in Britain — playing central roles.
They were only denied the Treble in the by Aston Villa, who boasted skipper Andy Townsend, Paul McGrath, Steve Staunton (left) and Ray Houghton in their first-team squad.
Yet the Boys in Green were so strong that half those six were not even certain of starting in Giants Stadium.
The emergence of the ‘Three Amigos’ — Phil Babb, Gary Kelly and Jason McAteer — had put pressure on McGrath, Irwin and Houghton.
McGrath ending the club season with a shoulder injury also put his place in question. Keane, Kevin Moran and Tony Cascarino all picked up knocks in the build-up too.
But Ireland headed Stateside in form, having beaten the Netherlands and Germany in the build-up, with a 4-5-1 formation surprising opponents.
Discussing the 1-0 friendly victory over the Dutch, boss Jack Charlton said then: “Ronnie Whelan made the point after that game that the performances are only as good as the contribution of the weakest player.
“And that night there were 14 players who were prepared to run themselves into the ground to deliver.
“When you play like that, the conviction which comes from self-belief is precious.
“And when you put the three together, you have a formula to beat the world.”
THE VENUE
Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands, New Jersey had a capacity of 75,000 with just 8,500 tickets originally sold to Irish fans.
Yet on matchday, the venue was a sea of green with Ireland supporters getting their hands on the majority of seats.
Captain Andy Townsend said: “It was incredible.
“The stands go up so steep, it was just a wall of green.
“I don’t know how they got all the tickets.”
But a pre-match kit clash led to some panic.
Ireland thought they were meant playing in white and dressed accordingly, only to be informed minutes before kick-off that Italy were wearing the same colour.
It was a story that did not come out until weeks later but Ireland eventually took to the field at the appointed time wearing green.
THE OPPOSITION
The famous showdown in 1994 was the third meeting of the teams in four years, with the Azzurri winning the previous two.
Painfully, Toto Schillaci settled the quarter-final at Italia 90 before Ireland lost a friendly 2-0 in Boston in 1992 when keeper Packie Bonner was sent off.
But Jack Charlton was sure this occasion would be different.
He said at the time: “When you play a team like Italy, you simply cannot allow your concentration to drop for even a split second.
“And if we needed proof of that, the World Cup quarter-final four years ago provided it.
“One moment of madness when Kevin Sheedy played a silly pass to John Aldridge’s feet instead of in front of him cost us the match.
“The mistake occurred 70 yards out but in four swift passes they ripped us apart.”
And on lessons taken from the 1992 friendly, Big Jack explained: “I knew after that game that we found a way in which we could handle them.
“If you take out two set-pieces, they didn’t give us too much bother.
“And the secret, I’m convinced, is to deny them the time and space to measure the final ball.
“Italy are one of the top teams in international football but they’re far from unbeatable.
“We have some of the best midfield players in Europe in our squad and nobody seems to take undue notice.
“It worries me that I don’t worry about the Italians, or maybe that’s the sign of the way we’ve grown in the last eight years.”
THE GOAL
Ray Houghton lobbed Gianluca Pagliuca after 12 minutes with his weaker left foot to give Ireland the lead and ultimately a famous win.
And Jack Charlton reckons he didn’t even have it in his locker.
The iconic gaffer said afterwards: “He tried that play a thousand times in training and I’d never seen it work until today.”
Houghton grinned: “He’s telling lies.
“When I chested the ball down I was looking to play the ball to Steve Staunton, but the full-back had him covered.”
Staunton added: “I expected him to pass.
“Nine times out of ten, he would have played me in there, I’m glad he didn’t.”
Houghton continued: “I thought their defender was going to come at me but he didn’t.
“That left me some room, and I thought, ‘Why not?’
“Their keeper must have thought it was going over. I just meant to get it on target really.”
THE SUPERHERO
Paul McGrath’s display in Giants Stadium will forever go down as one of the greatest by anyone in an Ireland shirt.
Everyone knew he had a shoulder problem going into the game, and — to this day — McGrath (above) maintains he could not move his arm and should not have played.
Yet, while Ireland could have won by more had John Sheridan not struck the crossbar — with Packie Bonner and Denis Irwin producing big interventions — it is remembered as the McGrath show.
Whether it was a moment when he sprinted to get a back pass to Bonner ahead of Beppe Signori, or blocking a Roberto Baggio shot with his face, he was unbeatable.
Jack Charlton said: “Some of Paul’s recent performances weren’t great.
But when I spoke to him about it last Tuesday, he promised me he’d do it on the day and he did.”
Left-back Terry Phelan added: “You look at Paul, he’s got two bad knees and he’ll still get the tackles in, he’s as strong as an ox and he’ll win everything in the air.
“Like when he threw himself at that shot by Baggio . . . it just shows how determined he was to win the game.
“He stopped everything. Everything that was thrown at him, he stopped or blocked.
“That’s the best game I’ve seen him play, he was brilliant. They switched players up front but it didn’t matter to him.
“He’s probably the best centre-half in the world and were it not for his sore knees, I’d say the very best — but even with his sore knees, he looked better than Franco Baresi.”
McGrath added: “I don’t think today was my best game. I’ve played better but we did well across the back four.”
THE AFTERMATH
After scoring so early, Ireland held firm to earn a win that is still the greatest in the nation’s history.
Even Roy Keane, who notoriously had high expectations, was gushing in the aftermath following Ray Houghton’s 12th-minute winner in the searing heat of New Jersey.
The midfield great said: “The best team performance I’ve ever been part of in my four years as a professional.
“It took about 15 to 20 minutes for everybody to get going, to get breathing or whatever.
“But after that, we got going and we always felt we would win the game.”
Captain Andy Townsend agreed, adding: “Really hard work, very tiring, I thought we deserved it in the end.
“We scored early on, they got frustrated and we held it together.
“It might have been a different story if we had fallen a goal behind or whatever. Today we scored first and played well.”
Packie Bonner believed Ireland owed the Italians one after the Azzurri knocked them out of Italia 90.
The keeper said: “I think the win over England in Euro 88 was very special because it was the first step for us as a team in the big competitions.
“We owed Italy one so it was so, so sweet.”
Steve Staunton was pleased with the result but was quick to look ahead to the next group game against Mexico in Florida.
He said: “To start the World Cup by beating Italy is absolutely fabulous.
“It’s a great start but we need another big performance down in Orlando.”
Keane added: “We’ve got three points now and it makes winning the group more realistic.
“That’s been the target all along. That’s why we’re here.”
Jack Charlton (left) said: “It was no fluke, no miscarriage of justice, we got what we deserved on the day.
“The match is now history and when we get back to work today the purpose of the exercise will be to get players ready, physically and psychologically for Mexico.”
Ireland would lose 2-1 in Orlando but drew their final group game with Norway 0-0 to secure second, before going out to the Netherlands in the second round.