SHAY GIVEN'S steep climb to a place among the best of the emerging talent in Irish football was yesterday acknowledged by Mick McCarthy in the wake of another convincing performance in Rotterdam on Wednesday.
Commenting on those who succeeded in making Holland look less than invincible until the last quarter of an hour in the Feyenoord Stadium, McCarthy said: "A few of them could go straight into the World Cup team, and I'm not giving any secrets away when I say that young Given is one, of them. "What the lad has achieved in the space of a couple of months is remarkable. He came into the squad with a big reputation for the game against Russia in March, but far from being intimidated by the pressure, he has used it as an extra spur.
"I am, perhaps, prejudiced but I haven't seen a better young goalkeeper anywhere. And the great thing is that, with any kind of luck, he's going to get even better.
With a year of his time as an under-21 international still to run, Given found his career dramatically accelerated after Alan Kelly had been injured in training with Sheffield United in March. Now, with Kelly suffering a recurrence of the injury last week, he is in line for an impressive total of eight caps by the time he completes a crowded end-of-season programme.
That, in itself, is a remarkable achievement in 59 short a time by the lad from Lifford - but it doesn't surprise another of Donegal's favourite sons, Packie Bonner.
He started off with good basic handling skills and when you add the kind of commitment that Shay has, you end up with a fine prospect.
Now Bonner is providing the cover for his younger countryman. It has all come as a surprise for our record breaking goal keeper whose original job designation for the end-of-season programme was that of goal keeping coach and who has not played a competitive game for Celtic all season.
"I feel very sorry for Alan and the way his season nosedived, he said. "When he took over from me after the World Cup finals in America, all the signs were that the job would be his for a long time. In two years, he hardly made a mistake in the European Championship games. Then he gets injured and has to sit and watch as young Shay gets better and better with every game.
"That's the luck of football, but the good thing for Ireland is that now have two talented young,
McCarthy was suitably upbeat about the other young players in the squad for the match against Holland. "I now know that if the occasion arises, I can put any of these youngsters into the side and they will do a job for me," he said. "And that will not have gone unnoticed by the senior players who have opted out of this tour ... And from a manager's point of view, that's a very healthy situation."
"There will be no more major experimentation. I now know what we've got and where we are. The next job is to find the right mix of experience and youth and, hopefully, we'll be closer to the solution by the time we go to Liechtenstein for our first competitive game in August."
McCarthy wasn't alone in his assessment that the newcomers did well in Rotterdam. While stopping short of agreeing with his opposite number that the scoreline flattered his team, Guus Hiddink, the Dutch manager, was quick to acknowledge the merit of the performance of the new-look Ireland team.
Missing from the squad when they travelled direct from Amsterdam to Boston at the start of their American tour yesterday was Tony, Cascarino. He was given permission to break camp and return to London to attend a family wedding. But he is expected in Boston in time for the opening tour game against the US on Sunday.
Another bonus for McCarthy is that the Aston Villa midfield player Gareth Farrelly has been pronounced fit for the game after missing the meetings with Croatia and Holland with a groin, injury he sustained against Portugal.
