Irishman David O’Leary spent almost his entire career at Arsenal. A classy defender in an era of big bruisers – he clocked an immense 558 games for Arsenal, scoring a whopping 11 goals in 18 years. Yes, less than one goal a season on average.

In 1990, Ireland qualified for the World Cup under the guidance of England legend Jack Charlton, and unfortunately found themselves in a group with England, Holland and Egypt. Nobody gave them much chance, but they managed a draw with England despite England dominating, a draw with Egypt and finally a draw with Holland, they somehow scraped through the group stages and faced Romania looking to book a place in the World Cup Quarter Finals.

By this stage Ireland’s sheer unwillingness to lose games – even if they were not winning them – earned them a following throughout the British Isles and across much of Europe. The fans had a party no matter where they went, in stark contrast to English, Dutch and German fans who seemed hell bent on rioting no matter where they played. And if Cameroon were the Cinderella team, Ireland were the sweethearts.

The game against Romania was as tense affair as could be. A haunting 0-0 draw captivated fans and as the game ground on through 90 minutes and then extra time, penalties looked to be more and more likely. Finally this was the only option that remained. All penalties were scored by both sides until finally Romanian Daniel Timofte stepped forward, took a low shot to his left which was smartly saved by Packie Bonner. This was heart-in-mouth stuff, and Ireland were now one kick of the ball away from the Quarter Finals. One kick.

I turned to my sister (a fellow Arsenal mad person) and said “So long as Spider does not take it …” (Spider was O’Leary) … and then he stepped forward. My sister yelled, almost laughing “… Oh no .. it is David O’Leary!” and all of a sudden the knot in my stomach grew to about the size of a large watermelon. I loved this man, but he was no goal scorer and watching Ireland crash out was bad enough, watching David O’Leary miss this one would be akin to watching your father getting his ass beaten.

I stood in front of the TV, hands over my face, barely daring to watch as he strode forward and confidently stroked the ball into the back of the net. He knelt down after scoring for a second before bouncing back onto his feet. The backdrop featured Irish fans in delirium and within a second the foreground was filled with Irish players running towards O’Leary to celebrate. I have seldom jumped around like a maniac when Ireland have won … but I did. Amazing moment, and one of my favorites in the game ever.

The video is weird, but there is almost nothing on this goal out there. Still the they replay the scenes after Ireland score and it pretty well sums it up. Ireland went out in the Quarter finals going down 1-0 to Italy but went home to a half million people lining the streets. They were heroes, and that moment will live in my mind, and the hearts of Irish fans forever.