They will forever be remembered as the lads who made us dream.
From Randolph and Brady to O'Neill and Keane in the backroom staff, they provided us with the most unlikely of Euro adventures, when it looked like we were long shots to even qualify from our group after a slip up with Scotland.
And then, Shane Long got the ball and stuck it in the Germans' net before a playoff against Bosnia and Herzegovina resulted in us searching for flights to France and trying to figure out our chances of landing tickets.
The world fell in love with the Irish all over again, and it all started with the fans making themselves useful among the locals, changing a tyre for an old French couple and putting the wheels in motion (pardon the pun).
There was a sense that if we got a win against Sweden, we would give ourselves a good enough chance to qualify from the group stages, and Wes Holohan gave us the lead with a wonderful half-volley.
Debate over whether this was the greatest goal in Irish tournament history was set to take place well into the next decade, but Sweden equalised and it seemed another chance had slipped through our hands. It was the best goal, by the way, until Robbie Brady got on the end of Wes' cross against Italy, but we'll discuss that later.
ireland and sweden fans singing a bit of abba together superb 😂👠🇮🇪🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/i8YmpnRaj7
— CeItic Culture (@CeIticCulture) June 13, 2016
There was singing and dancing on the streets before that game with some spectacular renditions of ABBA's greatest hits, as Swedish fans were keen to get in on the action. Every morning you woke up and looked at your phone, it seemed the Irish fans were going viral for another random act of kindness or craic that completely enamoured opposing fans and the world's media.
And then of course, we had the Irish fans who sang this French baby to sleep on the train which signaled that the operation to take over France was well underway and going smoothly. If Tourism Ireland were to have hired ambassadors to spread the word of Ireland's hospitality and good nature, they wouldn't have been able to find people as good at it as the Irish fans who had traveled to support their team in the Euros.
After a rather regrettable display against Belgium, to borrow and butcher a phrase from Christy Moore, none of the experts gave us the slightest chance and they thought the Italy team would lead us on a merry dance. From the first minute, however, we knew that wasn't going to be the case with so much energy, tackling and creativity in Ireland's midfield, bringing a sense of optimism to the side.
When Wes Holohan missed a one-on-one chance that would have sealed it, we were sure the chance was gone, yet again, but then Wes sent a scintilating pass into Robbie Brady's path and he scored what will go down as one of the most important and celebrated goals in the history of Irish soccer.
There were tears, cheers, singing and plans made to make it to Lyon for the following Sunday as Ireland booked a place in the last 16 against hosts France.
Robbie again gave us a chance to beat France when he converted a penalty to put his side ahead after two minutes, but it wasn't to be.
The rollercoaster of a journey took us from having no chance of qualification, to beating the world champions and getting into the group of death. Even with that, we produced some amazing moments to escape the group and came so close to beating the tournament favourites in their own back yard. It has been a June to remember.
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