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WORLD CUP QUALIFYING IRELAND v FRANCE:IT MIGHT be pretty much unheard of for a team to rescue its World Cup prospects from the position Ireland find themselves in but Giovanni Trapattoni was convinced yesterday his side’s hopes of qualification for next South Africa are still alive in the wake of Saturday’s narrow defeat by France.

Since the first two-legged tie to decide a place in a finals tournament kicked off between Poland and Czechoslovakia way back in 1933, no European side has ever recovered from a home defeat in the opening game. Most of the instances relate to two-team group games in the days when very few countries entered the competition, but in each of the last three qualifying tournaments, one team has slipped up in European play-offs – Hungary in 1998, Austria in 2002 and Norway four years ago – and none has made it through. In two of the three cases, indeed, the teams playing catch up have lost the second legs by hefty margins.