John O'Shea has marked his milestone Republic of Ireland cap with a late equaliser in Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Germany.
The Sunderland defender, in his 100th international appearance, tucked away an injury-time effort to cancel out Toni Kroos' stunning opener in Gelsenkirchen to give Ireland a share of the points with the World Champions in Euro2016 qualifying.
O'Shea was in the right place at the right time when he cleverly slotted home Jeffrey Hendrick's neat knock-back with the outside of his right boot for his third Ireland goal which prompted special words after helping his country to a vital away point.
"The manager (Martin O'Neill) put me forward with a couple of minutes to go and thankfully I was able to stick it away," he said.
"But it was a big credit to the lads in front of me tonight. It was very determined and very dogged. It was a big, big performance but we came up with little bits of quality when we had to come out and play and that was very pleasing.
"Once they got that goal it was a big blow for us because we're looking towards the end of the game to maybe catch them a little bit. And they got that first goal with maybe 20 minutes to go so we had to come out a little bit more.
"But the manager said to us at half-time that even if we do go that goal down then we will have chances and we will have time to play. We were able to string together some lovely passes. It was special night and thankfully I was able to play my part."
The former Manchester United man added: "It was a very special moment because the group has a fantastic spirit and we didn't want to come off this pitch with just a 1-0 defeat. But that makes it a bit more special - we got something from the game."
