Republic of Ireland defender John O'Shea has praised his team's performance as they beat Kazakhstan 3-1 in their World Cup qualifying encounter this evening.

Noel King's side went behind in the first half, but managed to seal a victory following goals from Robbie and O'Shea.

"We would have liked a clean sheet but it was a hell of a strike from the lad to put us a goal behind, but I thought the reaction straight away from the lads was fantastic," O'Shea told Sky Sports News.

"Noel said to us beforehand that whatever happens, if they score a great goal or whatever, keep your heads up and play properly. We got the rewards from it and we could have scored even more.

"The goal gave us a bit of relief because we started quite well but their goal upset us a bit, but like I said the reaction was fantastic and we gave the crowd a little something to cheer."

Despite their victory, the Republic of Ireland will not be at next year's tournament in Brazil, following a poor run of results under previous boss Giovanni Trapattoni.

Written by
Christopher Dodd