A wonderful atmosphere in the Aviva Stadium, as Ireland win the second leg of a major-championship play-off for the first time! They deserved that result, because while the visitors enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, they were undone by rope-a-dope tactics. Ireland soaked up the pressure, conceded very few real chances, and put theirs away when they arrived. The penalty in the first half may have been farcical, but the result was secured in the second, so controversy doesn’t come into it. Ultimately, Ireland are the deserved victors in this play-off, and will be joining the Euro 2016 party! Magnificent scenes. Still, poor old Edin Visca, eh? He was brilliant.
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THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND QUALIFY FOR EURO 2016! Republic of Ireland 2-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina (agg: 3-1)
And that’s it! Ireland have made it to France!
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90 min +2: Another free kick to the visitors, this time in the middle of the Irish half. Everyone in the box. The ball drops to Ibisevic, on the left-hand side of the six-yard box. Leaning back, he lashes a hell of a shot past Randolph ... and onto the crossbar! So unlucky! But it’s too little, too late. Dzeko and Djuric are booked for some moaning after the ball goes out of play.
90 min +1: The clock ticks by without incident. The crowd in full voice. It’s on!
90 min: Walters, on a hat-trick, tries to complete it from the halfway line. Eh, no. Whelan is replaced by O’Shea. And a mere three additional minutes stand between Ireland and Euro 2016!
89 min: Some McClean clumsiness leads to yet another free kick for Bosnia-Herzegovina out on the right. Needless pressure on his own team, but Randolph calms everyone down with a confident jump and claim.
88 min: A free kick for Bosnia-Herzegovina on the halfway line. Besic hoicks it straight out of play for a goal kick. That’s amused the home support.
87 min: A high ball into the Irish box leads to another Bosnian corner on the left. From the set piece, a massive playground scramble in the six-yard box. Someone should slam it home, really. Dzeko, perhaps, in the middle of it all. But the ball bobbles into the arms of Randolph. If they can’t get a shot on target from that, it’s not going to happen for them.
85 min: Corner for the visitors down the left. It’s whipped to the near post, where Walters and Spahic compete. The referee signals for another corner, then changes his mind. One way and another, the referee has been hopeless tonight. But for all the controversy over the penalty decision, his bungling doesn’t look to have made any difference. Bosnia-Herzegovina haven’t scored.
83 min: Long, going up for a high ball with Zukanovic, flicks a kick into the side of his opponent. It threatens to kick off, and Zukanovic is livid, but the referee shows only yellow.
82 min: Walters is back. Bosnia-Herzegovina can’t get anything going.
81 min: Walters is down getting some attention for ailments minor. The clock is Ireland’s friend.
80 min: Lulic is replaced by Ibisevic.
78 min: A throw deep in Irish territory. Bosnia-Herzegovina knock it around in pretty triangles. Then Lulic embarks on a skitter into the area. He shapes to shoot, but Coleman spreads himself to block. Corner on the left, from which Randolph rises highest to punch clear with confidence.
76 min: Besic, from out on the right, swings one high and long towards Djuric. Randolph rises and claims rather magnificently.
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75 min: Coleman bashes a clearance down the right. The pointless Spahic should mop it up, but he miscontrols and allows Long, on his shoulder, to tear clear on goal! Long’s never quite got the ball under control, though, and with Begovic coming off his line, bobbles a poor shot wide left of the goal. That would have been that.
73 min: Brady very nearly releases Long down the inside-left channel, but there’s a bit too much juice on the ball and Begovic comes to the edge of his area to claim. The Aviva is in full voice right now.
71 min: Visca comes zipping down the right yet again. If there’s one player who doesn’t deserve to lose, after his performance over the two legs, it’s this lad. But his cross is smacked clear from the waiting Djuric by Clark.
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GOAL! Republic of Ireland 2-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina (Walters 70); agg 3-1
Finally Brady delivers something special! The free kick, 35 yards out on the left, drops into the six-yard box. Vranjes, at full stretch, looks to hook away from danger, but succeeds only in guiding the ball to Walters, on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Walters creams it into the right-hand portion of the net, and Ireland are so close to the Euro 2016 finals now!
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69 min: Medunjanin makes way for Djuric. When the game restarts, Spahic gets himself involved once again in nonsense, sticking a high boot into Walters’ trouser arrangement. That really should be a second yellow card. The referee’s had a shocker. But no matter! Because...
68 min: A free kick for Bosnia-Herzegovina, 25 yards out on the right. A chance to load the box. Medunjanin curls it in carefully, but it’s battered clear by the head of Clark. Randolph hasn’t had to make a serious save yet.
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66 min: Hendrick sprays a lovely long ball down the left wing to release McClean into space. A rare Irish attack, and he wins a corner off Spahic. They don’t rush to take the set piece. It’s cleared easily enough, but the ball breaks to Hendrick, 30 yards out. He attempts to lob Begovic. Ambitious is the best thing we can say about it. The ball drifts off to the right, and the free players either side of Hendrick launch an internal debate.
64 min: A simple belt down the middle of the park exposes the Irish defence. Lulic and Dzeko swarm around Coleman, who holds his nerve rather magnificently as he brings the ball down from the sky then plays it away from trouble. The smallest misjudgement there, a little miscontrol, and Bosnia-Herzegovina were away. As calm as you like from the Everton star.
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62 min: This game is slowly morphing into attack versus defence. Ireland are sitting very deep, with the visitors enjoying most of the possession. They’ve not created too much as of yet, but you know how these things often pan out. The Aviva is a cauldron of nerves as a result.
59 min: McClean is booked for a fairly agricultural shove in the back of Vranjes, who was making good down the right. The free kick, right on the corner of the area by the byline, is pulled back for Pjanic on the penalty spot. Pjanic snaps a shot away first time, but it smacks Coleman in the face. Brave closing down there. Ireland clear the danger.
57 min: Zukanovic goes up to make a fairly simple header, but loses his bearings and allows the ball to smack into his upper arm. He can’t really complain this time. A completely needless free kick, 25 yards out, in a fairly central position. Brady takes it, and can you guess what he does with it? Yep: he smacks it straight into the first white shirt he can see. His delivery has been nothing short of appalling tonight.
55 min: Ireland make a double change. Out go Hoolahan and Murphy. In come McClean and - to great cheers - Long.
54 min: Vranjes slides a delicious ball down the right to release Visca. He’s past Brady, and reaches the byline. His pull back finds Lulic on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. He should trouble Randolph, but fluffs his shot. A very decent chance spurned.
52 min: Randolph sends a kick straight down the field and into the arms of Begovic. With his team under some pressure, and chasing shadows at the moment, he needs to be doing better with his distribution than that.
50 min: Hendrick palms Visca to the floor, just to the right of the Irish box. Free kick. Medunjanin teases a high one towards the far post. Dzeko rises, but the ball is deflected away by McCarthy’s eyebrows. It nearly flies into the top left. But it’s over the bar. Just. Corner, which is cleared easily enough. But it’s clear the visitors aren’t going to get knocked out wondering. They’re coming at the Irish with some force here.
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49 min: Visca has a dig from the edge of the area, but succeeds only in belting the ball against Dzeko. Meanwhile here comes karma policeman Matt Dony: “With any luck, sometime in the next 10 years or so, Bosnia-Herzegovina will qualify for a major tournament through play-offs at the expense of France, all due to a controversial hand-ball decision. And the circle will be complete.”
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47 min: Bosnia-Herzegovina are on the front foot early doors. Visca makes an almost immediate burst down the right but is brushed off the ball with purpose by Brady. Medunjanin then makes it two poor shots from two in this game: in space down the right, and with options, he decides to fire low towards the bottom-right corner. Randolph could have flung a cap on it.
And we're off again!
The visitors get the ball rolling for the second half. They need an equaliser to force extra time: 1-1 is the only result that’d lead to an extra 30 minutes, and possible penalty kicks. They’ve made a change, bringing on Everton’s Muhamed Besic for Cocalic.
Half-time RTÉ advertisements: This selection really gets going around the one-minute mark. “Are clouds of doubt hanging over your livestock?”
HALF TIME: Republic of Ireland 1-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina (agg: 2-1)
And that’s that for the first 45. A ludicrous penalty decision, but the Irish are probably due a bit of hand-ball luck in major-tournament play-offs. Bosnia-Herzegovina will feel aggrieved, but then they’ve done precious little up front so far, and would be going out anyway. Ireland are 45 minutes away from Euro 2016!
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45 min: Begovic hits long. Dzeko doesn’t win his header. The visitors really need to hear the half-time whistle, and think up a few new ideas.
43 min: The hapless Spahic bangs into the back of Walters as the pair contest a high ball, in the middle of the Bosnia-Herzegovina half. Not worthy of a yellow in itself, but he’ll be undone by the totting-up procedure soon. Brady’s free kick, with the box loaded, proves yet another risible nonsense. “Has Steven Gerrard been coaching the Irish on free-kicks and corners in his off-season?” wonders Justin Kavanagh.
41 min: Hendrick, in space down the left, floats a lovely high ball into the middle towards Murphy. The striker rises with a view to powering home his first-ever international goal. But Begovic rises higher, and smoothly claims with one hand. Fine football all round.
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39 min: Visca delivers a teasing cross into the Irish box from the right. Dzeko is nowhere to be seen.Then Vranjes hits another one from that wing, to the far stick. Keogh cedes no ground to Lulic.
37 min: Bosnia-Herzegovina are enjoying the lion’s share of possession, but doing very little with it. A lot of sterile nonsense in the middle of the park. Ireland harass and harry, and seem happy enough with the way the match is going so far.
35 min: Begovic, with the ball at his feet, looks to hoick clear. He’s closed down by Hoolahan, who raises his hands and blocks the kick. The ball breaks towards the goal, and Hoolahan goes off after it, but eventually the whistle blows. Now that was a hand ball.
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34 min: A long ball headed down by Dzeko for the in-rushing Medunjanin. It sits up perfectly, but it’s ballooned over the bar from the edge of the area. A decent chance, but an awful shot.
32 min: Pjanic sliderules a gorgeous pass down the inside-right channel for Visca, who has a head start on Brady. Visca pulls a brilliant ball into the middle, but there’s nobody up with him, and Ireland mop up in the insouciant style. “What a putrid call by Kuipers to give that penalty,” writes JR in Illinois. “I don’t want to win this way. Then again I didn’t want to lose because Thierry Henry decided to play basketball.”
30 min: Coleman is bowled over by Lulic down the Bosnian left. A common-or-garden free kick, but this match is on a rolling boil right now and the crowd bay for more action. In fairness to Coleman, he gets up and carries on without so much as a shrug. “The consistent rubbishness of Emir Spahic might be the difference this evening,” opines Shaun Wilkinson. “As a resident of Germany and reasonably frequent watcher of the Bundesliga, his shambolic display so far comes as no surprise.”
27 min: A royal brouhaha as Pjanic accidentally boots Whelan in the face. Free kick, but as the referee blows, Spahic crashes into Hoolahan. The Irish want the defender sent off, but the referee opts to calm everything down by having a chat with the two captains. The visitors have lost the head in the wake of that controversial penalty decision. Mind you, Spahic was all over the shop before the goal as well. The resulting free kick comes to naught.
26 min: And then the visitors very nearly equalise immediately, as Dzeko cuts in from the left and batters a low shot into the side netting. Randolph had that covered.
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GOAL! Republic of Ireland 1-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina (Walters 24 pen); agg 2-1
... slips the ball calmly into the bottom-left corner! Begovic went the wrong way, but would have had no chance anyway! The Aviva erupts!
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Penalty to Ireland!
23 min: Murphy bursts into the box down the right. His cross brushes across Zukanovic’s hand at close range. The referee points to the spot. Bosnia-Herzegovina are livid, and no wonder because the players were right next to each other, and the defender was clearly trying to get his arms - already down by his side - out of the way.. Lulic is booked for arguing the toss too much. A harsh decision, but it’s been made. Walters steps up, and ...
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22 min: Brady again can’t beat the first man with a free kick. Goodness me. The ball’s recycled down the wing, and Spahic comes crashing into the back of Brady. The referee isn’t going to flash a second yellow, and that’s the correct decision, but the big defender needs to watch himself here. Hendrick takes the free kick - and now he’s failing to beat the first man! This is farcical. But no matter, because...
20 min: Walters flicks a ball down the left wing for Hendrick, who looks to burst into space. Spahic comes sliding in from the side, with enough force to pick up a booking. Free kick in a very dangerous position, just to the left of the Bosnian area.
18 min: Lulic sends a delicate chip down the middle and nearly releases Visca, who has made a run inside from the right. But Brady has tracked his man, and puts a stop to his gallop. Fine defensive work.
17 min: Coleman, deep on the right, launches long into the Bosnian box. Walters can’t win the header, but does enough to ensure the ball drops into the D. Rushing in is Hendrick, but his attempt to flick the ball first time past Spahic and set himself up for a shot is a clanking failure. Clank! Goal kick. Walters nearly made something out of nothing there, though.
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15 min: After a mucky start, this is turning into a very entertaining game. Brady is sent into space down the left, and fires in another low cross. Zukanovic again blocks out for a corner. Again the corner comes to nothing, headed clear with confidence by Spahic. This doesn’t look like ending goalless, though of course Ireland would take that result right now.
14 min: The visitors are beginning to find some rhythm. Pjanic swings a ball in from the right. Dzeko rises, but can’t get a header away. Keogh stood firm there.
13 min: Pjanic twists and turns into the Irish box down the right. He nearly works a shooting opportunity, but falls over. The ball comes back to him. He springs up, but is denied by Whelan, who squirts the ball out for a corner. The set piece comes to nothing.
12 min: Keogh climbs all over Dzeko as the striker contests a high ball down the left. Free kick, and a chance for Bosnia-Herzegovina to throw a few men forward. They do that, then forget to send the ball forward too. Very strange.
10 min: An over-elaborate corner routine comes to nothing. In fact, the ball having hit the referee, it leads to Visca tearing upfield on the break. Luckily for those bored by manufactured controversy, he runs the ball out of play on the right. The match has suddenly sparked into life.
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9 min: Lulic threatens to shoot from the left-hand corner of the Irish box, but is robbed by McCarthy. Ireland flood upfield, switching the ball to the left where Brady turns on the burners. He reaches the byline and fires a low ball towards the near post, where Walters is ready to turn the ball home. Zukanovic slides in to put the ball out for a corner. A marvellous sweeping move, that.
7 min: It’s all a bit scrappy in the early exchanges. Medunjanin hoofs long down the middle, Randolph claiming under no pressure. Randolph then sends a big belt down the park, Begovic claiming possession. Dear oh dear.
5 min: Ireland are enjoying most of the possession though they’re not doing very much with it right now. The players on both sides are understandably nervous, with so much at stake.
3 min: Vranjes goes off on a power run down the right flank, Ireland’s problem area on Friday. Brady holds firm just when it looks like he’ll be skinned on the outside. He’ll need to put in a shift this evening.
And we're off!
Ireland kick off, and lose the ball within six seconds. Bosnia can’t keep it for more than ten. A harum-scarum start. Ireland are eventually awarded a free kick down the right, but with the box loaded, Brady can’t beat the first man. The only way is up.
Before kick-off, a moment’s silence to remember those killed in the Paris attacks on Friday. Not impeccably observed, unfortunately, though in fairness most of the noise came from those telling the few idiots shouting to pipe down.
The teams are out! A wonderful atmosphere in the Aviva, with both sets of fans bouncing. Ireland are in their famous green, Bosnia-Herzegovina in their second-choice white with blue trim. The Irish president Michael D Higgins comes on to shake a few hands in the diplomatic style. Some national anthems. No fog! We’ll be off in a minute.
It’s all kicking off in the warm-up. In the warm-up, for goodness sake. Robbie Keane has taken offence at a couple of Bosnia-Herzegovina players encroaching into Ireland’s half of the pitch as the two squads go through their drills. There’s a full and frank exchange of views in the centre circle with one of the Bosnian coaches. Almost nose to nose. Marvellous. Gloriously petty. Oh this means something all right. Though Keane, at 35, would probably be wise to save his energy for the real thing. You never know, he might get on.
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Here’s a magnificent take on tonight’s Bosnia-Herzegovina line-up, courtesy of Sanel Aganovic. “I wanted to give you an insight from a Bosnian fan perspective (although understandably the majority of Guardian readers following this live update will be Republic of Ireland fans). The team lineup differs quite a bit from the team that Bosnia fielded in Zenica few days ago. New additions in starting lineup include Sead Kolasinac, currently playing as LB/CDM for Schalke 04; Haris Medunjanin, CM who is playing for Deportivo La Coruna; and Ognjen Vranjes who is playing as CB for Gaziantepspor.
“It looks that coach Mehmed Bazdarevic is going to give Miralem Pjanic and Medunjanin some additional attacking freedom by having an additional midfielder, and taking the second striker (Vedad Ibisevic) out. If anything, this seems like a more conservative line-up than the one in Zenica, and with less attacking power, with Mensur Mujdza and Ibisevic removed from starting lineup.
“Another interesting fact is that Bazdarevic is still giving advantage to Edin Cocalic (Mechelen) over Muhamed Besic (Everton). Besic is much better creator from the back, and is a good (although sometimes reckless) tackler. However Cocalic has a much better aerial presence and is probably a slightly better defender (he plays for Mechelen primarily as CB, not CDM as in this case).”
Martin O’Neill speaks! “I think we’re ready for it, absolutely. It’s been a long tournament for us, 12 games now, but yeah, the players are ready.” Explaining why John O’Shea is only on the bench, O’Neill points out that the big man is coming back from a muscle injury, and with the possibility of 120 minutes and penalty kicks tonight, “the last thing you want is someone pulling up early on.” As for the other notable returnee, Shane Long “is kicking the ball finely”. And the team’s mindset, having the advantage of that away goal? “There’s no point just trying to keep them out. I don’t think you can do it like that. We’re going to try to win the game.” A look of determination on O’Neill’s face ... but then, when is it any other way?
The teamsheets
Republic of Ireland: Randolph, Coleman, Keogh, Clark, Brady, Hendrick, Whelan, McCarthy, Hoolahan, Murphy, Walters.
Subs: Forde, Wilson, O’Shea, McGeady, Long, Keane, McClean, Christie, Ward, Gibson, Arter, Henderson.
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Begovic, Vranjes, Zukanovic, Spahic, Kolasinac, Medunjanin, Cocalic, Visca, Pjanic, Lulic, Dzeko.
Subs: Sehic, Bicakcic, Besic, Ibisevic, Hodzic, Susic, Sunjic, Djuric, Hajrovic, Hadzic, Salihovic, Buric.
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (Holland).
Just the one change for Ireland from the team that started in Zenica on Friday evening. Stephen Ward, who was given a torrid time by Edin Visca, drops to the bench. Robbie Brady shifts to take his place at left-back. Into the team comes Jon Walters, returning from suspension, and he’ll give Daryl Murphy a little help up front. Shane Long, back from injury, is an insurance policy on the bench. Meanwhile the visitors make three changes. Out go Vedad Ibisevic, Toni Sunjic and Mensur Mujdza; in come defenders Sead Kolasinac and Ognjen Vranjes, and Deportivo La Coruna midfielder Haris Medunjanin.
Good evening...
A second successive appearance at the Euros is so close for the Republic of Ireland. Martin O’Neill’s team may not have always looked convincing during this qualification campaign - for a while back there it looked like Scotland would pip them to the play-offs, then last Friday in Zenica, they were dominated for large chunks of the first leg of this winner-takes-all showdown with Bosnia-Herzegovina - but they’ve fallen into a rather pleasant habit of getting the job done when it comes to the crunch. Which is all that matters. And now Euro 2016 is very much within reach. It’s been a stunning effort to get this far.
A depleted team were defensively resolute in the first-leg Bosnian fog. And now just one good performance will do. Ireland have home advantage, and an away goal in their pocket. They’ll be further boosted by the return from suspension of John O’Shea and Jonathan Walters, while Shane Long, the hero of that result for the ages against Germany, has been training again after a month out with a knee injury, and may be able to contribute at some stage.
Recent form along Landsdowne Road will give Ireland hope too. They’re unbeaten in six competitive matches at the Aviva Stadium, since a 2-1 loss to Sweden in September 2013. Meanwhile Bosnia-Herzegovina have a middling away record in these qualifiers: won two, drawn one, lost two. And of course they’ve never got through a play-off, having been knocked out of 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 deciders by Portugal. Aiden McGeady never quite lived up to those Ronaldinho comparisons; what scenes there would be if, for one night only, he channelled his inner Cristiano Ronaldo instead.
Bosnia-Herzegovina will prefer to concentrate on the present rather than the past. After a sluggish start to their qualification campaign, they came good towards the end, winning the last three matches of the group stage to pip Israel to the play-offs. And they were the better team on Friday night, Miralem Pjanić probing, Edin Višća a constant menace down the right. Asmir Begović is one of the best keepers around. And Muhamed Bešić is back from suspension. History might not be on their side, so they may feel it’s time to start bucking some trends.
One of these teams will be booking their tickets for France later tonight. The other will be heartbroken. But both will fancy their chances right now, so we could be in for a rollercoaster ride. We might even get some extra time, though only a 1-1 draw would send us down that road. File your fingernails smoothly to discourage biting, gnawing and chewing. We kick off at 7.45pm in Dublin, 8.45pm back in Sarajevo.
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