Irish duo hope to fulfil EURO 'dream'

After helping the Republic of Ireland secure a 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic in Dublin, defender Darren O'Dea hopes he has done enough to book his place in Giovanni Trapattoni's UEFA EURO 2012 squad. Debutant James McClean also has his fingers crossed that his late cameo may earn him a seat on the plane this summer. Czech forward Milan Baroš, meanwhile, was delighted to score his 40th international goal and strike partner Jan Rezek was impressed with the team's passing game.

Darren O'Dea, Republic of Ireland defender
It was a typical warm-up game in that both sides were quite cagey early on. It's all preparation for the EUROs and in the end it wasn't a bad result to get away with a draw. We're happy with the workout but I think we can play better than we showed tonight. I think I've done enough to get into the final squad but that's up to the manager. Every time I've come in I think I've done well and obviously it's up to me to keep playing well between now and the end of the season.

 James McClean, Republic of Ireland midfielder
Growing up as a fan and watching the games on TV, it was amazing to get that reception when I came on. It would be a dream to get into the squad for the EUROs, but first of all I have to stay focused on playing well and continuing to improve for Sunderland.

Milan Baroš, Czech Republic striker
Of course I’m happy to get my 40th goal for the national team. All the goals I score are important and this one is no exception. I thought I might have been offside for the goal but I stepped back and once the goalkeeper came out towards me it was easy for me to score. It's just a pity we didn't get the win but we are pleased with the way we played.

Jan Rezek, Czech Republic striker
We tried to play a passing game and in my opinion we deserved to win. We showed we can cope without important players like [Tomáš] Rosický and [Roman] Hubník. We will be even stronger when they come back and this result gives us a lot of confidence going into the finals.