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When Ireland legend Kevin Sheedy inadvertently turned matchmaker

Kevin Sheedy's place in Ireland and Everton folklore will always be assured. On the Irish side, t...



When Ireland legend Kevin Shee...
Soccer

When Ireland legend Kevin Sheedy inadvertently turned matchmaker

Kevin Sheedy's place in Ireland and Everton folklore will always be assured.

On the Irish side, the 57 year old was part of Jackie's Army for Euro 88 and 1990 World Cup. And it's the latter tournament which saw the current Everton coach make Irish football history.

With a precise low finish to beat England goalkeeper Peter Shilton, Sheedy will forever be emblazoned in the annals as the man who scored Ireland's first ever goal at a World Cup finals.

It's a famous finish and he added to it by scoring in the famous penalty shootout win over Romania in the last-16.

But the goal against England had another inadvertent effect as Sheedy told Newstalk's Team 33 on this week's feature interview.

"I was over at Punchestown races last year and I was in a hotel and a couple approached me and they said 'Kevin Sheedy?' and I replied 'Yes,'" Sheedy began.

"[The husband] said 'this is my wife, we're celebrating 25 years of marriage'. And he said, '[My wife and I] lived in the same village but never went to the same venues and the night of the Ireland-England game, we were in the same place'.

Kevin Sheedy of Ireland lines up to score while leaving Steve McMahon of England on the floor ©INPHO/Billy Stickland

"When I scored, they were next to each other, jumped up, hugged each other, gave each other a kiss and started going out.

"So they were celebrating 25 years, so I said 'you've got a lot to thank me for'. You don't realise how you affect different people." 

You can listen to the full interview with Kevin Sheedy on the podcast player or on iTunes:

In the full interview, Sheedy also looked back on the highs of winning leagues, an FA Cup and a European trophy with Everton during the mid-1980s, his almost unique route to Goodison Park by signing directly from Merseyside derby rivals Liverpool as well as some of his highlights at international level like scoring on his debut in Ireland's all time record 8-0 win against Malta in 1983.

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