We have three away games first and I’m looking for seven points.”Gary Johnson may just find there is life yet in the oldcampaigner.. The dreadful disappointment of having lost out on a place at Euro 2000 on away goals to Turkey still throbbed in Irish veins last December, but the televised draw for World Cup qualifying groups was looking promising: And-orra.. Cyprus.. Estonia…. The dreadful disappointment of having lost out on a place at Euro 2000 on away goals to Turkey still throbbed in Irish veins last December, but the televised draw for World Cup qualifying groups was looking promising: And-orra.. Cyprus… Estonia….
Dubliners mentally counting up the points may or may not have realised that the higher seeds were reserved until last, which is when the section suddenly took on an altogether different hue, as Portugal and Holland were pulled out.”It was unbelievable,” said Stephen Carr, the increasingly impressive Tottenham def-ender who has found a niche at right-back for the Republic despite the presence of more experienced performers such as Denis Irwin, Kenny Cunningham and Gary Kelly. Seeing was believing when FAI officials had finally negotiated a fixture list that begins with visits to Amsterdam on Saturday and then Lisbon on7 October; assignments that look even more daunting since the respective opponents swaggered through to the Euro 2000 semi-finals in June.”It’s two massive away games to start with,” said Carr.

“If you get a game or two at home early on, you can hopefully get some points on the board, but if we were to come away from these two with nothing, jeez, it would be demoralising.” Demoralisation and Irish football have been almost strangers ever since Jack O’Charlton was appointed national team manager in such bizarre circumstances nearly 15 years ago. Expectation was raised to new levels thereafter, by qualifying for the 1988 European Championship and two World Cups, and exceeded in all three tournaments, before a return to the more familiar reality of frustration at the last moment: defeats in play-offs by Belgium, Holland and, last autumn, Turkey.That was the closest of the three, coming on away goals after drawn games in Dublin and Bursa, and all the harder to take because home victories over the two favourites, Croatia and Yugoslavia, appeared to have put the Irish in such a strong position. Carr, who made his debut midway through the campaign and finished it by being carried off after only six minutes of the play-off in Turkey, admitted: “It was very disappointing, and it always gets brought up that we should have qualified, because we were in a great position But it’s behind us now. There’s a massive game to look forward to against Holland in a very tough group. People won’t expect us to get through, as they didn’t last time, when we could have ended up winning the group but for one or two little mistakes.”For Carr, one of the crop of young Dubliners who have largely supplanted Charlton’s English incomers, there was no moping this summer.

He took part in a demanding international tournament in the United States, in which a weakened Republic team drew with the hosts and Mexico and beat South Africa, then flew home to get married. Not much time, either, for sitting around watching Euro 2000, though he noted the qualities of next Saturday’s opposition. Edgar Davids is injured, and there is no Dennis Bergkamp any longer, but Carr felt: “The Dutch are a great side and I don’t think it could be much more difficult. If I end up playing, I could be up against either Zenden or Overmars, who’s a quality player, lightning-fast.”Holland’s new manager, Louis van Gaal, has been studying videos of Ireland’s matches in the US – from which he may learn less than he hopes – and, flatteringly, has implied that his starting line-up will be influenced by whether Roy Keane is in a green shirt That sort of respect should encourage Ireland. As Carr says: “It’s important that the likes of Roy are there, as he’s such a massive influence Robbie Keane is getting good experience too with Inter. We’re not expected to win, but that means we’ve got nothing to lose, and stranger things have happened.”Brought over nine years ago from Dublin at the age of 15 by a Tottenham scout, Carr has come through predictable homesickness and occasional self-doubt – “At one time I couldn’t even get a game in the ressies [reserves]” – to become such an accomplished player that the club are currently trying to extend a contract that still has four years to run.If apprehension at the task ahead sets in at any stage, he could do worse than remind himself of the following testimonial from George Graham: “His enthusiasm for the game is first-class: he’s the first to get ready for training every day and, unlike many domestic players, actually enjoys training.