Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has hit an all-time high after Hungary’s late collapse cost him a place in the World Cup qualifying play-offs.
Former Wolves and Reading striker Kevin Doyle is said to have targeted Liverpool star Dominik Szoboszlai after the Republic of Ireland’s dramatic win over Hungary.
The 42-year-old, who worked for local broadcaster RTE Sport, was filmed walking around the studio in celebration, calling the Hungarian captain a “Liverpool guy” and gesturing at what appeared to be a TV showing the match.
Troy Parrott kept Ireland’s World Cup dreams alive with a hat-trick in dramatic fashion. The former Tottenham Hotspur striker scored in the 96th minute to help Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side come from 2-1 down to win 3-2 and secure a place in the play-offs.
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Ireland’s surprise win against Portugal earlier this week gave them a glimmer of hope heading into Sunday’s showdown in Budapest.
Parrott scored twice in 16 minutes to complete the comeback and advance to Thursday’s play-off draw, where they will face the likes of Wales, Slovakia, Scotland, Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo.
RTE Sport’s X account posted a cut version of Doyle gleefully running around the studio, but the entire scene following the dramatic win was filmed off-camera and posted to social media platform X via user @Liam_D79. It shows Doyle running around the studio before gesturing an X-rated message to the Liverpool midfielder.
Doyle appeared to say: “Fuck you, you Liverpool bastard” before apologizing to former Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamann, who was also a pundit on the coverage.
The 42-year-old retired from professional football in 2017 after finishing his career in America’s MLS with the Colorado Rapids, and then turned to punditry with a passion for horse racing.
The 25-year-old Liverpool star assisted Dani Lukacs’ opener five minutes before Reds teammate Milos Kerkes restored the lead with a goal from Barnabas Varga after Parrott’s penalty leveled the scores.
Szoboszlai missed out on a chance to qualify for the play-offs with the defeat in the capital and was disappointed at full-time. He was unable to express his disappointment in words in the post-match interview, as quoted by local media, but said he felt “very much” after the loss.
Republic of Ireland hero Troy Parrott was similarly emotional after winning the match, but for different reasons. He told RTE: “Yeah, I’m, uh… really, really emotional right now… I’m sorry.
“It’s tears of joy. What a night. What a night.
“I would rather put that pressure on myself and whatever happens, put it on other people and keep it out of my hands.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s really unbelievable. This is why we love football because something like this can happen.”
“Look, Tony, I love where I’m from. So this means the world to me. My family is here…This is the first time I’ve cried in years, too. I can’t believe it.”
“Everyone is crying. I told Portugal this is a dream come true, but tonight I don’t think I’ll ever have a better night in my life.”
“It really is a fairy tale. I would never dream of something like that. Honestly, I don’t have the words to express how I’m feeling right now.
“Everyone criticized us at the start of the group. But I can’t say it enough, there’s always a chance. And we took the chance.”
“Everyone should be proud of that group of players over there. It’s beautiful to go down twice and come back like that.”
RTE has been contacted for comment.
