present in the starting line-up for eight of the 10 games. On 1 April 2009, in the game against Italy, he was elbowed in the forehead by Giampaolo Pazzini, who earned the record for the fastest sending off in Italian football history. After receiving treatment for the bleeding, O'Shea continued playing all 90 minutes. Including the second leg of their play-off victory over Estonia, made nine appearances in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, as Ireland reached the continental tournament for the first time since 1988. He played every minute of their finals campaign, a group stage elimination after three defeats. On 15 August 2012, his 80th cap, O'Shea captained Ireland for the first time, in a goalless friendly draw against Serbia at the Red Star Stadium in Belgrade. On 15 October 2013, he opened a 3–1 World Cup qualifying victory over Kazakhstan at the Aviva Stadium, his second international goal and the first in over a decade. O'Shea was scheduled to face Spain on 11 June 2013 at Yankee Stadium in New York, but was ruled out of the game over the sudden death of his uncle Jimmy O'Leary. On 14 October 2014, on his 100th cap, O'Shea scored the equalising goal with the last kick of the match, in a 1–1 draw against Germany at Gelsenkirchen, in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match. In the final qualifier, a 2–1 defeat away to Poland on 11 October 2015, he was sent off for a foul on Robert Lewandowski and thus missed the first leg of the Republic's play-off. O'Shea was selected in manager Martin O'Neill's 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016 in France. In the absence of Robbie Keane, he captained the Irish in their first two group matches, a 1–1 draw with Sweden and a 3–0 loss to Belgium. He was one of several players who lost their starting place for the decisive final game against Italy, as he and defensive partner Ciaran Clark made way for Shane Duffy and Richard Keogh; the game ended with a 1–0 victory. In the last 16, as Ireland lost 2–1 to the hosts at Parc Olympique Lyonnais, O'Shea entered as a 68th-minute substitute for James McClean. Over a year after his penultimate game for Ireland, O'Shea played his final of 118 matches on 2 June 2018, a 2–1 friendly win over the United States at the Aviva Stadium. After 34 minutes, he was