Replacement Troy Parrott boosted John O’Shea’s claim to the vacant coaching job by sending the Republic of Ireland to victory against Hungary en route to Euro 2024.
The 22-year-old Tottenham striker, who spent last season on loan at Dutch club Excelsior, scored in stoppage time to seal a resounding 2-1 victory over Marco Rossi’s men, ending their streak of 14 matches without defeat.
For Ireland, whose only victories since March last year came against European minnows Gibraltar, there was some relief after a turbulent period in their recent history, with Stephen Kenny’s successor failing to has not yet been appointed almost seven months after his departure.
O’Shea, who takes his team to Portugal next Sunday, saw Adam Idah lead them into the lead and, after stubbornly surviving a fightback in which Adam Lang equalized, won at the death.
The Football Association of Ireland has insisted Kenny’s successor will be in place by the time the squad meets ahead of September’s Nations League opener against England, and the former Manchester United are increasingly making their arguments.
Hungary, meanwhile, face Israel in their final warm-up match on Saturday, knowing they will need to be sharper in Germany if they are to thrive on the big stage.
Ireland, who started sloppily, gradually worked their way into the match as the impressive Will Smallbone began to see more of the ball in midfield, but they were almost undone when Shane Duffy was brought off balance by Barnabas Varga. only for Loïc Nego to burst into flames.
The result gave John O’Shea his first victory as caretaker coach, after drawing with Belgium and losing to Switzerland.
Andras Schafer fired a shot off Caoimhin Kelleher’s left post after bursting into the box with genuine chances, although the Liverpool goalkeeper had to make a strong 29th-minute save from Milos Kerkez after Smallbone and Josh Cullen both lost in the 50th. -50 challenges halfway.
For their part, Ireland tried to move the ball forward quickly, sometimes getting around midfield, although this too often left Idah, Sammie Szmodics and Finn Azaz, making his first senior start for his country, repeatedly chasing lost causes.
Dara O’Shea’s forward run and Szmodics’ clever pass looked to have put the Republic behind Hungary 12 minutes before the break, but indecision between Idah and Matt Doherty saw a fleeting opening slip away.
But Idah, who won the double with Celtic on loan from Norwich last season, made amends inside three minutes when Smallbone had time and space to pick out the frontman, who powered a header past goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi uncontested to give his team the advantage.
Hungary were level before the break, albeit in slightly fortuitous circumstances, when skipper Dominik Szoboszlai’s long-range shot was unleashed by Willi Orban and Lang arrived at the far post to blast into the roof of the net.
Lyon defender Jake O’Brien made his senior debut when he and Liam Scales replaced Doherty and Duffy at the break, but Kelleher had to come to their rescue 11 minutes after the restart, diving to his right to prevent the strike from Roland Sallai after that of Szoboszlai. threatening race.
The Irish keeper then handled Schafer’s deflected effort admirably as the Hungarians shifted into high gear, pushing the hosts back into their own half and forcing them to defend for their lives.
But they defended, and they got their reward in the second minute of injury time when Parrott broke away from his own half and, with the Hungarian defense AWOL, fired a shot past replacement goalkeeper Denes Dibusz to take it away.
