Mick McCarthy was keeping his innermost thoughts to himself as he left Dublin yesterday to ruminate on the evidence of a third consecutive defeat for the Republic of Ireland team, this time at the hands of Argentina at Lansdowne Road.

For all the protestations to the contrary, this was a game he could scarcely have expected to win. Though the Argentinians had come undone against Israel a week earlier, the effect, far from helping Ireland's cause, was to provide the South Americans with even greater motivation.

So McCarthy was not unprepared for the indignity of watching Shay Given twice retrieve the ball from his net after those brilliant strikes by Gabriel Batistuta and Arnaldo Ortega had put the visitors out of reach by half time.

Yet, as a man who hates defeat with a passion, he will be conscious of the growing pressure as he approaches his next assignment against Mexico, another of the countries in the top 10 of FIFA's international ratings, at the same venue on May 26th.

As was the case on Wednesday, there is a huge gulf to be straddled between a team in the final stages of its preparations for the finals of the World Cup and one still embarked on a trial and error programme for a more remote objective.

In more private moments, McCarthy will be worried by that situation, the more so since he urgently needs to get that winning feel again before taking on Croatia at the start of his European schedule in September.

Individually, he will have been encouraged by some of what he saw, and if he tended to dwell initially on the contribution of Robbie Keane, the bigger reassurance, perhaps, was the quality of Mark Kinsella's performance in midfield.

There are those in London who believe that the Dubliner is good enough to be involved in the Premiership. That may be a little unfair on his present club, Charlton, but on the evidence of Wednesday's game, he would certainly not be displaced in a higher grade of club football.

As in the Czech Republic last month, he produced nimble footwork to extricate himself in tight situations and, in the manner of all good players, he invariably made himself available for the ball. That amounted to impressive testimony of his character, particularly on those occasions when the Argentinians were attacking in numbers.

That the manager should have been taken by the charisma which Robbie Keane brought to the side was predictable. For a player still some three months short of his 18th birthday, it was a remarkably mature performance, and an indication, perhaps, of the age in which we live.

Unshaken by either the occasion or the quality of the opposition he was facing, he brought to the side a cavalier quality which may have surprised the South Americans as much it delighted the 38,000 spectators watching it.

It ought to be said that the sum total of his first half contribution amounted to little more than the shot which extracted perhaps the best save of the game from German Burgos at a stage when the game was still scoreless. It was a different story subsequently, however, when, with the heat gone out of the game, he produced the occasional flash of exquisite skill.

That augured well for the future, but the reality is that when Keith O'Neill gets himself fit again, and David Connolly's suspension ends, he will do well to claim a place in the team.

In summary, this latest cloud on McCarthy's horizon was not without a silver lining, but more than most, he now appreciates the need to head into the summer break with a win over the Mexicans to sustain those of limited faith.