The Republic of Ireland lived dangerously in the rain at the Soldier Field in Chicago yesterday when coming from two goals down to salvage a face-saving draw against what was essentially a third-choice Mexican team.
For almost an hour, Mick McCarthy's team were tethering on the brink of an embarrassing defeat as Daniel Osorno and then Hugo Sanchez struck for a side containing eight players from the mid-division club, Pumas.
However, to their credit, the Irish found the character to force their way back into a game which at one point looked all but lost.
Richard Dunne, winning only his third cap, pointed the way back with a timely strike after Gary Breen headed Jason McAteer's corner back across the goalmouth in the 59th minute.
And it was another of the younger school, Dominic Foley, a second half replacement for Robbie Keane, who finally rescued Ireland when McAteer and Steve Carr set up the chance for him to score from 10 yards.
McCarthy later felt his team deserved a draw but that overlooked the fact that Joaquin Beltran, one of only four players previously capped in the Mexican team, twice came close to winning the game in the final minutes.
On the first occasion, Dean Kiely did well to knock his firm header onto the crossbar and then minutes later, the central defender was just wide with another header.
Against that, however, Niall Quinn was desperately unluckly not to have headed the goal which would have equalled Frank Stapleton's Ireland record of 20, approaching half-time. The Sunderland player, soaring above the defence headed against the post and then saw the ball rebound into the goalkeeper's arms. In an ill-tempered game, Ireland occasionally betrayed signs of fatigue, but eventually some fine performances by Gary Breen, Steve Carr and in the second half, Jason McAteer, got them out of trouble.
The new midfield partnership of Barry Quinn and Matt Holland never quite clicked, with Quinn departing early, but McCarthy scarcely helped their cause in the early stages when he deployed Mark Kennedy as an extra forward.
It meant that early on the traffic was flowing in the direction of the Irish goal but when pragmatism decreed that McCarthy revert to a fourth midfielder, Ireland were suddenly back in the game.
Just nine minutes into the game, Breen might have walked when he appeared to fell Daniel Osorno with his elbow. Surprisingly the American referee, Kevin Stott, declined to take any action but he promptly reached for the yellow card just 90 seconds later when Barry Quinn was late with a tackle on the same player.
By the 25th minute, the game had settled sufficiently to enable the Mexicans to produce the first genuine scoring attempt.
Osorno, managing to find space on the edge of the six yards area, got his head to a corner by Luis Gonzalez but Kiely made the one-handed parry for Dunne to complete the clearance.
The ease with which the winger had slipped his marker was ominous and seven minutes before the interval the winger duly delivered, beating Jason McAteer's attempted tackle to beat Kiely with the deflected shot.
As the rain relented, Mexico grew in confidence and their second goal in the 54th minute came at a stage when Gonzalez' foot was on almost everything that mattered in midfield. Osorno turned provider on this occasion, angling the cross so accurately that Hugh Sanchez was able to make the decisive touch, just ahead of Dunne.
With McAteer's expanding influence, however, the plot changed sharply however, as first Dunne and then Foley scored in the space of 12 minutes. Dunne's first international strike was a relatively straightforward affair after Breen had headed McAteer's corner was across the six-yards line in the 59th minute.
And with their earlier composure suddenly eroded, the Mexican defence fell again when McAteer contrived to send Steve Carr careering down the right and this time, Foley's finish was at once sure and clinical.
REPUBLIC of IRELAND: D Kiely (Charlton Athletic ), S Carr (Tottenham Hotspurs ), G Breen (Coventry City), R Dunne (Everton), T Phelan (Fulham), J McAteer (Blackburn Rvrs), B Quinn (Coventry City), M Holland (Ipswich Town): R Keane (Coventry City), N Quinn (Sunderland), M Kennedy (Manchester City). Subs: K Kilbane (Sunderland) for B Quinn 40 mins, D Foley (Wolverhampton Wdrs) for Keane 45 mins, P Babb (Liverpool) for Dunne 81 mins.
MEXICO: S Bernal; I Lopez, R Alpizar, J Beltran, C Ramirez, L Perez, A Sancho, G Torrado, D Osorno, H Sanchez, L Gonzalez. Subs: G Jimenez for Sancho 68 mins, Galindo for Sanchez 80 mins.
Referee: K Stott (US).
