The 11th of June 1990. It was the beginning of it all. The World Cup had started a few days earlier but this was it for Ireland. The old enemy in Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari.
Lineker, Gazza, Robson and Barnes against Jack's army. The country wasn't sure what was about to hit it but boy were we excited to find out.
8 minutes in, Lineker scored and the confidence from the qualifying campaign and beating England in Stuttgart was beginning to waver. This was the big time, were we ready for it?
Step forward Kevin Sheedy. 17 minutes from full time, the ball was played long (as tended to happen), it was won in the air (as tended to happen), Sheedy gave it away, won it back and then riffled one past Peter Shilton.
25 years later, Sheedy has marked that moment just about perfectly.
OMG 25yrs today I scored Ireland's first ever goal in the World Cup v England can still see Shilton waving as it went passed him @Everton
— Kevin Sheedy (@kevin11sheedy) June 11, 2015
Couldn't have put it better ourselves.
And if you're in the mood for some nostalgia, we'll be liveblogging Ireland vs England at Italia 90 from 8 o'clock tonight just as if we were back in those heady days.
