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Former Wolves and Reading striker Kevin Doyle has allegedly aimed a barb at Liverpool star Dominik Szoboszlai following the Republic of Ireland's spectacular triumph over Hungary on Sunday.
The 42 year old, who was working for local broadcaster RTE Sports, was filmed spinning around the studio in celebration before pointing towards what appeared to be a television displaying the match, and calling Hungarian skipper Szoboszlai a: "Liverpool c***."
Troy Parrott sealed his treble in spectacular fashion, maintaining Ireland's World Cup dreams. The former Tottenham Hotspur frontman found the net in the 96th minute, earning Heimir Hallgrímsson's side a place in the playoffs as they fought back from 2-1 behind to claim a 3-2 victory.
Ireland's shock success against Portugal earlier in the week meant they retained a glimmer of hope entering Sunday's encounter in Budapest, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Parrott struck twice within 16 minutes to complete the fightback and secure their passage into Thursday's playoff draw, where they might encounter sides including Wales, Slovakia, Scotland, Czechia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo.
RTE Sport's X account published a trimmed clip of Doyle gleefully racing around the studio, but the complete scenes following the thrilling victory were filmed off-air and shared on social media platform X by user @Liam_D79, which captures Doyle rushing around the studio before pointing at the Liverpool midfielder with an expletive-laden remark. Doyle seems to utter: "Suck on that you Liverpool c***," before offering an apology to ex-Liverpool player Didi Hamann, who was also part of the punditry team.
The 42 year old retired from football in 2017 after a stint with Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer, and has since transitioned into a career as a pundit while also indulging his passion for horse racing.
The 25 year old Liverpool midfielder set up Daniel Lukacs for the first goal within five minutes, before his Liverpool colleague Milos Kerkez assisted Barnabas Varga's shot that put them back in the lead following Parrott's penalty equaliser.
Szoboszlai was heartbroken at the final whistle as the loss in the capital dashed their playoff hopes. In a post-match interview with local media, he could barely express his disappointment, managing only to say: "Very much," when asked about the extent of his heartache after the defeat.
Republic of Ireland's hero Troy Parrott was similarly overwhelmed with emotion, but for entirely different reasons after his match-winning hat-trick. He confessed to RTE: "Yeah I'm eh...really really emotional right now...sorry.
"They're tears of joy. What a night. What a night.
"I'd rather have that pressure on me and whatever happens will happen, that to put it on somebody else and leave it out of my hands. I can't believe it. I really can't believe it. This is why we love football because things like this can happen.
"Look Tony, I love where I'm from. So this means the world to me. My family is here...this is the first time I've cried in years as well. It's unbelievable. Everyone's crying. I said against Portugal that this is what dreams are made of but tonight, I don't think I'll ever have a better night in my whole life.
"It really is a fairytale. You can't even dream about something like that. Honestly, I have no words to describe the emotions right now.
"Everyone wrote us off at the start of the group. But I couldn't have said it enough, that there's always a chance. And we've taken the chance. Everyone should be proud of the group of players that are over there. To go down twice and come back like that, it's beautiful."
RTE has been contacted by the Liverpool Echo for a response.
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