He apologised for his tears. \u201cThey\u2019re tears of joy,\u201d he said. \u201cMy family is here, this is the first time I\u2019ve cried in years. I love where I\u2019m from, so this means the world to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
His interviews after both the Portugal and Hungary games probably drew as much attention as his performances against the two nations, the raw emotion of the fella, and how much it all meant to him, evident. <\/p>\n
We are, of course, quick to write off players who don\u2019t live up to early lofty expectations, without ever giving much thought to what they\u2019re enduring while trying to make their way in their careers. <\/p>\n
Of Ireland\u2019s group of young strikers, Parrott was close enough to being the forgotten man since making his senior debut six years ago. Most of us had shifted the weight of expectation on to Evan Ferguson\u2019s<\/a> shoulders, with Adam Idah<\/a> getting an occasional look-in. <\/p>\n Parrott, still only 23, was to be the new Robbie Keane<\/a>, and all that, but between largely fruitless loan spells in the nether regions of English football, and no end of injuries that stymied his progress, it was becoming a struggle.<\/p>\n When his mother, Jennifer, spoke to RT\u00c9 after his double against Portugal last Friday, she said that she \u201cjust kept on praying and praying\u201d that he wouldn\u2019t get injured during the game. The goals were a bonus. Such is the lot of a parent who regularly gets those \u201cI\u2019m injured again, Ma\u201d messages. <\/p>\n The challenges Parrott has faced, since being effectively written off by Spurs, having kept Harry Kane<\/a> company in their attack for a brief spell in his teens, have been huge. Many a young player who went through the same journey continued falling down the rungs of the game before disappearing from it altogether. <\/p>\n But, as we\u2019ve oft read, he rejuvenated his career with that move to the Netherlands, when the easier shift might have been to eke out a living in England\u2019s lower divisions. Instead, he was brave enough to move out of that comfort zone and try pastures new. Granted, it wasn\u2019t the biggest of culture changes, the Dutch speaking better English than we do, but still. <\/p>\n If Ferguson had been fit, though, for the games against Portugal and Hungary, Parrott would, most likely, have been left on the bench. Instead, on his return from another injury, while Ferguson was ruled out with his own, opportunity knocked. And boy, how he took it. Five goals in those two games, the fifth one for the ages. <\/p>\n![\"Ireland’s](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GIXDX2OMAQJFI2ENQ7CN756P4I.jpg\")
Ireland\u2019s Troy Parrott scores his side\u2019s third goal of the match. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho<\/p>\n