Irish football’s governing body has been forced into an embarrassing social media climb-down – after praising World Cup winners Germany.

The FAI praised the Germans on Twitter after their extra-time 1-0 win over Argentina in the Rio de Janeiro final.

The Tweet also said ‘Gulp’ in relation to Ireland’s European Championship clash with the new world champions this coming October.

The FAI tweeted: “Congrats to @DFB_Team_EN 2014 @FIFAWorldCup champions, and our opponents for #Euro2016 qualifiers in October ***Gulp***.”

Angry Irish fans bombarded the FAI twitter account to register their protest.

One asked why the FAI had bothered to enter a team into the European Championships with such a derogatory attitude.

Another claimed that even San Marino wouldn’t issue such a statement on Twitter if they were playing the Germans.

The FAI quickly deleted the Tweet but not before it had offended Irish fans according to the Irish Independent.

Ireland were beaten 9-1 on aggregate by the Germans in the qualifying series for this World Cup.

The teams will meet again in Gelsenkirchen in October.