SEAMUS COLEMAN feels that the Republic of Ireland have rekindled the old ‘You’ll Never Beat The Irish’ spirit as they target qualification for the 2020 European Championships.
Last night, David McGoldrick’s 85th minute equaliser earned a valuable draw against Switzerland in Dublin.
Fabian Schar fired in for the Swiss 11 minutes earlier, but McGoldrick lit the fuse five minutes from the end.
McGoldrick’s header maintained Ireland’s unbeaten run in Mick McCarthy’s second stint as manager and also kept the Boys in Green top of Group D.
“We never go away,” Irish captain Coleman said.
“We’re a hard team to beat. It’s just in us. I think it’s in the Irish people and I think it’s in the Irish fans, the Irish players. We don’t get things handed to us.
“Every one of us that was out there on the pitch probably got rejected at some point in our careers.
“You have to have something inside you to keep going. A lot of our lads have that. We’ve got great characters in our squad.”
Ireland are in a fine position now ahead of the final three group games, which see away ties at Georgia and Switzerland followed by a showdown with Denmark in Dublin.
Coleman said: “We’re really looking forward to it.
“Next month is a massive month for us, but I don’t think any team will look forward to playing us either.
“We’re positive ahead of every game we go into.
“Regardless of the outcome, we go into every game wanting to win. We went into this trying to press them, trying to get on the front foot, trying to cause them problems early on. But top teams tire you out.
“We showed that typical spirit we have towards the end. The fans played a massive part in that as well. They really helped us the last 20 minutes when we were tiring.
“The Irish fans are unbelievable. When things are going well they get right behind us. We felt that massively. They tried to drive us on to get a second.”
"We showed our character, we always have."@faireland captain Seamus Coleman with @annmarie_keegan after that 1-1 draw.#IRLSUI #COYBIG #VMSport pic.twitter.com/Cs79WEc3gy
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) September 5, 2019
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