Paul McGrath jams to famous Euro 88 tune before Nations League clash vs England

PAUL MCGRATH announced his return to the Aviva Stadium with a succinct Christy Moore tune ahead of tonight’s clash between Ireland with England.

McGrath danced along to “Joxer Goes to Stuttgart”, a folk song about Ireland’s famous European Championship victory over England in 1988.

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An English Aston Villa fan jokes in the replies: “99.9% of the time you’re God, but today is that 0.1% where you’re the enemy!”

The main focus of the song is the game that took place in Stuttgart‘s Neckarstadion against England on 12 June 1988, a game which Ireland won by a 1–0 scoreline, thanks to a sixth-minute goal from Ray Houghton

At Euro ’88 – the Boys in Green’s first ever major tournament – Jack Charlton’s side faced neighbours England in their opening game.

Over 51,000 people piled into the Neckarstadion in Stuttgart to watch the historic derby, and to this day, it remains a cherished memory in Irish international football history.

With just six minutes on the clock, Tony Galvin sent a cross into the area which defender Kenny Samson ballooned into the area.

John Aldridge was on hand to head the ball back across towards Liverpool teammate Ray Houghton, who sent a looped header over Peter Shilton and into the back of the net.

Ireland, with the help of goalkeeper Packie Bonner, saw out a momentous 1-0 win over the Three Lions.

While they would fail to get out of the group following a draw against the USSR and defeat to the Netherlands, that win over England remains in the annuls of iconic results to this day.

That significance is amplified by the fact that they finished ABOVE their rivals in the group.

Much of that generation of players would go on to play a starring role in Ireland’s excursion to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Italy two years later.

One of those men who played at both tournaments was Paul McGrath, who clearly holds fond memories of both his and the national team’s golden years.

McGrath will hope tonight brings the same result.

New boss Heimir Hallgrimsson’s crowning managerial achievement came when his Iceland side humiliated England by dumping them out of Euro 2016.

He was Iceland co-boss alongside Lars Lagerback when they tamed the Three Lions team with a shocking 2-1 win in Nice to advance to their first ever last 16.