Phase One of the mission has been accomplished: Ireland are through to the second round of the World Youth Cup where they will play Colombia on Tuesday in Al Ain for a place in the quarter-finals. They advance as group winners after beating Mexico last night.
The victory came at a price, though: midfielders Darren Potter and Glenn Whelan and defender Stephen Kelly will all miss the game through suspension.
Mexico, who had qualified for the second round in their last six appearances in the finals, finished bottom of the group and are out, and also ended the game with their manager and two of his coaches sitting in the stands after the referee dismissed them all.
Manager Eduardo Rergis could also be in trouble with FIFA after throwing a water bottle from the stand at his dug-out (he claimed that he was simply trying to attract his assistants' attention), a gesture that had him quickly surrounded by machine gun-wielding security guards and nervous officials.
An eventful night, then, but one that began in a relaxed enough fashion. After all the fretting about permutations in the build-up to the game it promised to be a relatively stress-free evening for Gerry Smith and his players, for the combination of group results from Thursday night's games and Saudi Arabia's failure to beat the Ivory Coast earlier yesterday (that game ended 0-0) meant Ireland were already assured of progressing, whatever happened against Mexico.
Smith made four changes to his line-up, bringing in goalkeeper Brian Murphy (for Wayne Henderson), central defender Paddy McCarthy (for John Fitzpatrick), midfielder Michael Foley (for David Bell) and Kevin Doyle (for Eamon Zayed).
Murphy, who might prove difficult to dislodge from the starting 11 after his display last night, made early saves from Aldo de Nigris and Ricardo Jimenez, before Whelan picked up his second yellow card in three games for a tackle from behind on Raul Mendoza.
The former captain responded bravely to his disappointment, though, creating Ireland's first opening of the game in the 21st minute when Kevin Doyle nodded his chip in to the path of Stephen Elliott.
Mexican goalkeeper Jose Martinez made a brilliant save to turn the shot, bound for the bottom right corner, around the post.
Whelan was involved again, in the 32nd minute, winning the free-kick that led to Ireland's first goal. Willo Flood floated in the free-kick from the right and Stephen Paisley rose to power the ball home.
It was the Longford Town defender's second goal in as many games.
Ireland, though, suffered a significant blow two minutes from half-time when Potter, such an influential player in this team, was sent off after a skirmish with Jesus Palacios, who also received a red card.
Palacios responded to Potter's initial foul by shoving the Liverpool player in the back, and Potter paid a heavy price for reacting to the shove by grabbing the Mexican around the throat.
Fausto Pinto should have levelled for Mexico on the stroke of half-time, but fired in to the side-netting when a pass from the right found him in space, while de Nigris also spurned a chance three minutes after the break.
Kelly then became the third Irish player to face missing the game against Colombia when he collected his second yellow card of the tournament, for another tackle from behind, this time on Pinto.
Like Whelan, however, he simply dug deeper and produced the two most crucial interventions in the remainder of the game.
The Tottenham defender first cleared Mario Ortiz's shot off the line, before completing his evening by charging forward, from his right-back position, to score the second goal, in the 85th minute.
Eamon Zayed, a replacement for Elliott, smartly chipped Kelly's pass back in to his path. Kelly collided with the goalkeeper and a defender, only to see the ball run free, and he just about had enough energy left to scramble it across the line.
That, then, was that for Mexico, who had all but given up the ghost when Murphy made a superb save to deny Ortiz in the 73rd minute.
Three players down, but on Ireland go. Potter, Whelan and Kelly will trust that their team-mates ensure they have at least another game in this tournament.
England again failed to score as they bowed out of the championship with a goalless draw against Ireland's next opponents, Colombia.
The result saw England extend their scoreless streak in the event to 491 minutes. England have now not scored a goal since their 2-1 loss to Argentina in the 1995 tournament.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Murphy (Swansea City); Kelly (Tottenham), McCarthy (Manchester City), Paisley (Longford Town), Capper (Scarborough, capt), Flood (Manchester City), Potter (Liverpool), Whelan (Manchester City), Foley (Liverpool), Elliott (Manchester City), Doyle (Cork City). Subs: Fahey (St Patrick's Athletic) for Flood (54 mins), Zayed (Bray Wanderers) for Elliott (61 mins), Ward (Kidderminster) for Whelan (79 mins).
MEXICO: Martinez; De la Barrera (capt), Huiqui, Jimenez, Pinto, de Nigris, Torres, Mendoza, Palacios, Ortiz, Torres. Subs: Medina for Mendoza (64 mins), Romo for de Nigris (67 mins), Costilla for Pinto (77 mins).
Referee: Wilson Souza (Brazil)
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