Idah ends busy week with crucial Republic of Ireland goal

Monday: Transfer from Celtic to Swansea City for the day’s end.

Saturday: Your nation won a late equalizer off the bench to earn a point in their opening World Cup match against Hungary, drawing level at 2-2.

Adam Idah, the Republic of Ireland striker, admits that it has been a “crazy” week.

The 24-year-old left the Swans to prepare for their World Cup qualifiers against Hungary and Armenia after agreeing to a five-year contract with them.

He had already scored his sixth international goal, which was probably the most significant of them all, on Saturday evening to save a desperately needed point.

A hectic couple of days have churned up a rollercoaster of emotions for the striker, like many people who are just watching the game on Saturday.

The manager instructed me to try to get on one because there would be a lot of crosses entering the box when I arrived, he said to BBC Sport NI.

“I know what kind of crosser Ryan Manning is, and it fell perfectly for me,” he said, “It was just about staying on the ball and getting my head to it.”

It was a crazy week, they said. Swansea arrived, but I had no intention of leaving Celtic. I thought it would be a good idea to restart and compete in the championship.

Fans of the Republic of Ireland had already hoped for a “fresh start,” as there was renewed optimism prior to the Hungary game that Heimir Hallgrimsson’s squad could win the first World Cup since 2002 despite an unbeaten start until 2025.

When they led Hungary 2-0 after 16 minutes, the optimism had effectively vanished as of 20:00 BST because of poor defense that allowed Barnabas Varga and Roland Sallai to score.

In the second half, Hallgrimsson’s side roared back, with Evan Ferguson bringing one back before Sallai was sent off.

Then, in the 93rd minute, Idah’s big moment. Beyond Denes Dibusz, he was in the right place at the right moment, and he fired a towering header from Ryan Manning’s cross.

Despite being able to save a point, there was still a sense of frustration over “what could have been” for the Republic of Ireland in a game that many believed was a must-win in the condensed campaign if they wanted to advance.

After Sallai’s dismissal, they dominated and pumped cross after cross into the box before only getting really close once, with Finn Azaz having a header superbly snared away by Dibusz and Idah before displaying the predatory instinct that other Irish players lack.

Idah praised their resilience to fight back as something to be proud of, despite it being obvious that they were unable to take all three points.

“It was a little strange,” the author said. It’s difficult to go 2-0 up early, and many people probably assumed we were out, he continued, “but to get it back was great.”

“We could have continued and won the game, but we didn’t lose it,” he said. We have already lost two games, which probably kills us, but we came back and fought well, albeit regrettably, without getting the third point.