A tearful Troy Parrott saluted the Republic of Ireland's resilience after his brilliant hat trick kept their World Cup dream alive in dramatic fashion.

The 23-year-old AZ Alkmaar striker, who scored both goals in Thursday night's remarkable 2-0 win over Portugal , fired Ireland into second place in Group F and March's play-offs with a winner deep into stoppage time as they twice fought back from a goal down to beat Hungary 3-2 in Budapest.

Parrott, who had earlier converted a 15th-minute penalty and equalised with 10 minutes of normal time remaining, told RTE: "I'm really, really emotional. They're tears of joy. Ah, what a night, what a night.

"This is why we love football, because things like this can happen. Look, I love where I'm from, so this means the world to me. My family

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