High praise for Republic hero Dunne
Richard Dunne's Republic of Ireland team-mates believe the defender rekindled memories of the legendary Paul McGrath in Bulgaria on Saturday.
The 29-year-old Manchester City centre-back turned in a superb individual performance at the Vasil Levski Stadium in Sofia to lay the foundation for a 1-1 draw which keeps the Republic in the hunt for a top two finish in World Cup 2010 qualifying Group 8.
Not only did Dunne marshal his defence to keep out a Bulgaria side including Dimitar Berbatov, Stiliyan Petrov, Martin Petrov and Valeri Bojinov, but he also headed home the 24th-minute goal which opened the scoring.
But once the Bulgarians had levelled when midfielder Dimitar Telkiyski took full advantage of Kevin Kilbane's slip five minutes later, the Irish were forced to hang on for dear life.
Dunne, who had a pain-killing injection in his knee before the game, revelled in his mission as he shepherded Preston's Sean St Ledger through his competitive debut in an Ireland shirt to draw high praise from his team-mates.
Skipper Robbie Keane said: "Richard has played a lot of superb games, but it was certainly one of his great games, scoring the goal and the whole thing of being injured as well.
"To get through it, it was reminiscent of Paul McGrath."
Club-mate Shay Given said: "He had an injection before the game. We were trying to keep that quiet from the Bulgarians, but I think he should have one every week, he was that good. He was fantastic.
"I have been playing with him now since the end of January at Manchester City.
"I know he came in for a bit of stick at the start of the season, but since I have been at Manchester City, he has been fantastic.
"Last night, he was a real rock - Paul McGrath-like, to be honest. It was unbelievable.
"It was a fantastic header he scored for our goal, and then in our box, he was brilliant, heading everything clear, and even one v ones.
"He was different class and deservedly man of the match."
Dunne modestly played down his role in a draw which leaves Ireland a point adrift of leaders Italy, but crucially five ahead of Bulgaria with both sides having played one game fewer than Giovanni Trapattoni's men.
Ireland head for Cyprus in September, where they would probably need to win to stand a realistic chance of overhauling the Italians to claim automatic qualification.
But that is something Dunne believes is far from beyond a team which has found a new resilience under Trapattoni.
Asked if automatic qualification is still within their grasp, he said: "I hope so, that's been the aim all along.
"We know we have to go to Cyprus now and probably get the three points rather than the draw.
"But if we go there and win that, we know we have got a great chance going into the last two games."
That was a sentiment echoed by Given, a veteran of the adventure in the Far East seven years ago, who knows just how important the trip to Cyprus could be ahead of the Republic's final two home games against Italy and Montenegro.
He said: "You could see their [Bulgaria's] reaction at the end, they were dead on the ground, they knew how important it was for them and a draw was definitely a better result for us than for them.
"It keeps them at arm's length from us. We have a big game next against Cyprus away and if we can win that, then roll on Dublin."
However, while the band of around 2,500 travelling fans in Sofia were already planning their trip to South Africa within minutes of the final whistle, Keane knows there is still a long way to go.
He said: "It is exciting, but there's still a long way to go and we can't get too carried away.
"We are obviously delighted with the result and the performance. The first half an hour was good, but after that as a team performance and everyone working for each other, it was second to none."
