Kevin Sheedy's memory of Ireland's Italia '90 opener is built around two moments he controlled. He equalised in the 73rd minute against England after Gary Lineker had put them ahead in the 9th minute, then he made sure he would take the first penalty in the shootout. The game carried extra edge for him because of the familiar faces on the pitch, including an old Everton team-mate.
The goal and the old connection
Sheedy's description of the equaliser is as direct as it gets. "I tried to play a pass through to Tony Cascarino, Steve McMahon had just come on as a sub and he intercepted it and tried to play as square pass to Gary Stevens which I then intercepted with the first touch and as soon as I hit it, I knew it was in past Peter Shilton's bottom left-hand corner," he said.
That was the moment Ireland needed, and it came with former Everton team-mate Steve McMahon involved in the build-up. Sheedy also linked the occasion to the broader Merseyside feel around the match, saying it felt like a real derby game with pressure on it.
Why Sheedy wanted the first penalty
The shootout part of the story is even more revealing about how he approached the moment. "I'd been the penalty taker for Everton and I'd taken penalties for Ireland so I was confident. As the final whistle went, I just said to Jack Charlton, 'I'll take the first one'. I'm not a believer in keeping your best penalty takers until the end because if the other players miss them, you're not even going to take one," he said.
That attitude fits the rest of his recollection. He was not waiting to be carried by the order of the shootout, he wanted the responsibility early. In his account, the goal, the interception and the first penalty all sit together as the parts of the night that mattered most.
Sheedy's reflection on England is the same kind of straight talk. He pointed to Ray Houghton's header against England at Euro 1988 and said Ireland had the players to overcome them in what felt like a real derby game. The memory is not framed as a grand historical lecture. It is a player's account of seeing the chance, taking the chance and asking for the first kick when the shootout arrived.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →