In 2011, Armenia visited Ireland for the first time to play the most important match in their history. The two countries were drawn together in Euro 2012, qualifying meeting in the opening and closing round of matches. Ireland won 1-0 in Yerevan but Armenia improved so dramatically during the campaign that a win in the return match would see them leapfrog over the Boys in Green into second place.
Armenia started brightly at Lansdowne Road only to see their hopes of securing a historic first playoff place implode after 26 minutes when goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky was incorrectly sent off for deliberately handling outside his area – replays showed the ball had actually brushed the hand of Irish striker Simon Cox.
Ireland scrambled to a 2-1 victory over their 10-man opponents, who finished third despite scoring a remarkable 22 goals, more than both Russia (17) and Ireland (15)
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