"As I walked out at Giants Stadium, I thought this is just ridiculous. I shouldn't be here and we all knew that."

The words of Paul McGrath as he reflects on his finest hour in an Ireland jersey add to the legend surrounding his astonishing performance against Italy in the 1994 World Cup finals.

McGrath's seat among the icons of Irish sport was assured long before he elevated himself to a whole new level in the Big Apple in Ireland's opening game of USA '94. And as he reflects on that moment 25 years later, he does so with a sense of a healthy degree of bemusement.

"I shouldn't have been anywhere near a football pitch that day and yet people still talk to me all these years later about my performance against Italy," recalls McGrath.

Unfit

"As I look back now, I have to ask myself; how the hell did I do that? There was no way I felt I could get through the game and perform anywhere near my best, given the condition I was in.

"To be blunt, I was not fit to play and we all knew that. Our manager Jack Charlton knew it, I knew it and if the Italian players had eyes, they would have worked it out very quickly as well, as my left arm was hard to move.

"The lads were all laughing at me in training because I had this shoulder problem that was not resolved and it meant I could barely lift my left arm up. It was only Jack's assistant Mick Byrne and some of the coaching staff that convinced him and, to an extent me, to get out there and play against Italy.

"As I walked out at Giants Stadium, I thought this is just ridiculous. I shouldn't be here and we all knew that. My arm was swinging beside me and I'm trying to play a World Cup match against one of the tournament favourites."

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McGrath was well protected that afternoon in the New Jersey heat. He had a five-man midfield in front of him, with Motherwell's Tommy Coyne playing as a lone striker.

And, typical of McGrath's modesty, he nominates Coyne as the real hero of that famous day.

"I'm so fortunate that people say nice things about my display that afternoon," says one of Ireland's most-loved sportsmen.

"I did play well, it was one of those days and the longer it went on the better it became for me. You get that in football every so often," admitted McGrath. "But what Tommy did in that game was just astonishing.

"Jack's instruction to Tommy was to run around and chase and harry the Italian back-four for the afternoon - just stop them getting in easy passes to their midfielders and forwards."

He did as bid, to the extent that, in the searing heat, he was so dehydrated that Coyne could not give a urine sample afterwards when he was called for a drug test.

"We had to hold the plane back to our base in Orlando for an hour, just so we could fill Tommy with liquids so that he could pee," Paul says.

"He may have just played 95 minutes in an oven, and was utterly spent, but FIFA would not let Tommy leave the Giants Stadium without him providing a sample for them. Crazy stuff."

McGrath's stewardship of the defensive line was instantly hailed as a masterclass from all who witnessed it, yet this humble legend insists his centre-back partner also deserves huge credit.

Expand Close Ireland's Phil Babb, right, with Paul McGrath during the gam eagainst taly, Giants Stadium, New Jersey, USA. Picture credit: Ray McManus / SPORTSFILE / Facebook

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"All I can say about that day at Giants Stadium was Phil Babb must have had the game of his life alongside me in the defence to make me look good," adds McGrath with a smile.

"Phil was outstanding that afternoon and covered a lot of ground for me because when you are operating with one arm, it affects your movement on a number of levels.

"That was a fine Italy side and they proved it by getting to the final of the competition, but they didn't enjoy playing against that Ireland team and no-one did to be fair."

McGrath also remembers vividly the moment that the teams headed out into the cauldron of the Giants Stadium.

"We got a shock. All you could hear was each of our lads saying 'Jesus', 'F***', 'Jesus' and when it was my turn I did the same." That's how the then 34-year-old remembers that march down the tunnel.

Jack Charlton hadn't let the players warm up on the pitch, to keep them out of the heat. And he had warned them too that this might be like playing an away game, with the Italians picking up all the spare tickets.

"But what we saw," McGrath recalls, "were specks of blue in the huge stadium and a sea of green. It was a magnificent sight to behold, one of the best of my career.

"If you watch the Irish team talking to each other while walking out, what we're all saying to each other is a variation of 'we have to reward these supporters, we cannot let them down'.

"I mean," McGrath continues, "we were well wound up anyway for the first match at a World Cup finals.

"But that glorious sight was amazing. We felt ten-foot tall."

As we all remember, Paul played like a giant - he was magnificent.

And for that, all Irish football fans will remain forever grateful.

To celebrate his 60th birthday, it's Paul McGrath week on Independent.ie.

Tomorrow: What his friends and teammates say about Big Paul.

Irish Independent