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Reaction to last night’s remarkable victory over Italy continued throughout the day with French daily l’Equipe leading with the headline ‘Que la fête recommence’ which translates as ’Let the party begin’.

President Michael D. Higgins paid tribute to the Irish team and to the ‘ambassadors’ in the stands.

Robbie Keane revealed he told Tottenham to sign Jeff Hendrick four years ago as praise continued for the Derby County player‘s performances at the tournament.

And Martin O’Neill admitted he became ‘rather emotional’ after the game, adding that the players and fans ‘fed off each other’.

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Hot on the heels of Rory McIlroy‘s announcement, Graeme McDowell has also turned down the chance of playing at this summer’s Olympics.

Eoin Reddan announced he will retire from rugby following Ireland’s tour of South Africa.

Jared Payne will miss Ireland’s series decider against the Springboks on Saturday due to a calf injury with Tiernan O’Halloran replacing him.

Michael O’Reilly has become the 8th Irish boxer to qualify for this summer’s Olympics.

The Irish cricket team are set to play an historic series against England next year.

Away

The world’s number one golfer, Jason Day, might skip the Olympics too.

Jamie Vardy has turned down the chance to join Arsenal and signed a contract extension with Leicester instead.

Three years after retiring because of his battle with leukaemia, 36-year-old Stiliyan Petrov is returning to Aston Villa.

Charles Rex Arbogast Charles Rex Arbogast

Chile made it through to the Copa America final (after some thunderstorms) with a 2-0 win over Colombia. They’ll take on Argentina in a mouth-watering decider.

Where We Were Today

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Ben Blake and Paul Fennessy were both in attendance as Martin O’Neill spoke to the press at the team’s base in Versailles.

The Best Thing We Shared

The Republic of Ireland had a pretty good night but so did Iceland as they beat Austria thanks to a last-gasp goal.

And how football commentator Gudmundur Benediktsson enjoyed the moment.

If only George Hamilton behaved like this in Lille.

On The Record

I told him to shave his beard. It was rustling my chin and (I said) ‘I don’t want you to hug me again, ever’.He said: ‘You are an ugly sod’ and I agreed wholeheartedly. I then retorted and said he ‘wasn’t Paul Newman either’.

A nice and chilled Martin O’Neill was asked to elaborate on what he and his assistant coach said to each other during an embrace at the full-time whistle last night.

The Fixture List

• There may not be any Euro 2016 action tomorrow but the League of Ireland makes a welcome return.

Six top-flight games are down for decision with Shamrock Rovers v Cork City the big one in Tallaght:

Kick-offs are 7.45pm unless otherwise stated.

Derry City v Wexford
Bohemians v Galway
Sligo Rovers v Bray Wanderers
Dundalk v St. Pat’s
Shamrock Rovers v Cork City (8pm)
Longford v Finn Harps (8pm)

• We’ll also be at the Captain’s Run in Port Elizabeth as Ireland take in some final preparation for the mammoth clash with the Boks on Saturday.

Showbiz, baby!

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You’re up next, Pádraig! McDowell says he’s also unavailable for the Olympics

Que la fête recommence! L’Équipe’s front page makes for pretty sweet reading