Irish draw on good fortune

The point secured means that Ireland's decisive Group Two battle should now come in September when the Dutch come to Dublin. But if Mick McCarthy's team manage to complete the unlikely feat of eclipsing two of Europe's footballing superpowers by qualifying for next summer's World Cup finals, they can expect little by way of good fortune on their travels in Japan and Korea, for even the proverbially abundant luck of the Irish must have been exhausted by our two meetings with Portugal.

At Lansdowne Road on Saturday, a strong spell for the hosts at the start of the second half, which included a 65th-minute goal from Roy Keane, ended with a sense of deflation when the players left the pitch with only a point. On balance, though, it was more than the home side deserved from a match in which they had been comprehensively outplayed for long spells of the first period.

True, they were better after the break when they had the strong breeze at their backs. But after Keane's goal and, more pointedly, the introduction of Matt Holland for Niall Quinn not long after, they surrendered their momentum and came under considerable pressure from a side that clearly felt there was more to be had from the game than Luis Figo's 79thminute equaliser.

This was a memorable contest between star performers and supporting casts. The greater depth of talent possessed by the visitors was what provided their edge, but in Keane the home side had a leading man who outshone Figo and Rui Costa.

The Corkman's performance was little short of astonishing. Along with Mark Kinsella, he ensured that Ireland more than held their own in central midfield but Keane's influence was extended to both penalty areas as well, with the 29-year-old making a couple of crucial interventions at the back, most memorably to rob Figo in the 54th minute. Figo's contribution, by comparison, was slightly more patchy and he and Rui Costa must accept part of the blame for their side's first-half dominance not being reflected in the score-line. With the central defensive partnership of Steve Staunton and Richard Dunne looking far from steady at times and Ian Harte rarely getting close enough to Figo, there was no shortage of opportunities for the visiting attack. For all the pressure they exerted, however, they forced just one really memorable save from Shay Given, a Pauletta strike which the goalkeeper did well to push wide. Portugal went close on just one other occasion, when Rui Costa drove against the post and then hit a tame follow-up shot which ran straight to Given.

The latter chance had come after half an hour as a result of Dunne's hopelessly misjudged attempt to cut out a high ball, and seconds later Staunton was badly beaten by Pedro Barbossa, who skipped past the Aston Villa defender down the right before cutting the ball back inside. Keane arrived in the nick of time to tidy up and, having done so, he made his displeasure at having to do the work of others abundantly clear.

But worse was to come four minutes later when Staunton headed a high ball straight to Rui Costa on the edge of the area. The Fiorentina midfielder fed the ball out wide to Barbossa, whose poor low cross was bewilderingly left by Dunne at the edge of the six-yard box. Suddenly Pauletta was in space with only Given to beat, but he missed the target so badly that you could only suspect he had been as surprised as the rest of us by the comedy of errors.

The first half ended with the booking - for dissent - that rules Keane out of Wednesday's game in Tallinn, and the second started with a curling shot from Figo that was close to the top right corner. However, things then improved for McCarthy's side. Kinsella had a couple of cracks at goal while a match-fit Robbie Keane might have scored when put through by the Charlton midfielder. Damien Duff's arrival for the Leeds striker after an hour further energised the Irish and the 15 minutes that both he and Niall Quinn were on the pitch were undoubtedly their team's strongest spell.

Ireland's equaliser came courtesy of a quickly-taken Gary Kelly throw on the right and a little bit of brilliance by Keane inside the box, who quickly controlled the ball before stabbing a deflected shot home. McCarthy admitted afterwards, though, that the team had fallen back much more than he had intended after Quinn's departure. He had, he said, aimed to go 4-3-3, whereas his players instead allowed Duff to become stranded up front. Almost immediately the Portuguese regained the upper hand, and with Joao Pinto having a positive effect on their attack following his introduction 17 minutes from time, it was no great surprise when Figo's close-range header levelled the score.

Twice Joao Pinto went close to setting up a winner for the visitors in the closing stages but, as it was, they had done enough to retake control of this still desperately tight Group Two qualification race.

Ireland: Given (Newcastle United); Carr (Tottenham Hotspur), Dunne (Manchester City), Staunton (Aston Villa), Harte (Leeds United); Kelly (Leeds United), Roy Keane (Manchester United), Kinsella (Charlton Athletic), Kilbane (Sunderland); Quinn (Sunderland), Robbie Keane (Leeds United). Subs: Duff (Blackburn Rovers) for Robbie Keane (60 mins), Holland (Ipswich Town) for Quinn (75), Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur) for Kinsella (80).

Portugal: Ricardo (Boavista); Costa (Porto); Frechaut (Boavista), Beto (Sporting Lisbon), Litos (Boavista), Rui Jorge (Sporting Lisbon); Figo (Real Madrid), Petit (Boavista), Rui Costa (Fiorentina), Barbossa (Sporting Lisbon); Pauletta (Bordeaux). Subs: Capucho (Porto) for Barbossa (70 mins), Joao Pinto (Sporting Lisbon) for Rui Jorge (73 mins), Boa Morta (Fulham) for Litos (88 mins).

Referee: Knud Erik Fisker (Denmark).