Mick McCarthy will join the national team managers of Holland, Portugal, Cyprus, Estonia and Andorra in Amsterdam on Thursday and Friday for talks to agree the match schedule for Group Two of European qualifying for the 2002 World Cup.
McCarthy is likely to insist that the Republic of Ireland get a home game at the start of their campaign, preferably against Holland or Portugal, the two higher seeded teams in the group. McCarthy insisted on opening his Euro 2000 qualifying campaign at Lansdowne Road, eventually persuading Croatia to make the trip to Dublin within two months of their achievement in reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup.
The advantages of that decision were two-fold; it maximised the chances of starting with a win in front of a home crowd and it also caught the Croatians with their guard down at a time when they were still celebrating their unlikely achievement in France. In the event, Ireland won the game 2-0.
"I think that win over Croatia coloured much of what followed and hopefully we can do something similar now," says McCarthy. "Psychologically, it's important to bank early points, the more so when it's achieved at the expense of one of the better teams. Others are likely to be of a similar mind, of course, and there are some difficult negotiations ahead. But in so far as it is possible, we'll be looking to play our first game at Lansdowne Road in the autumn."
His idea of a dream start to the programme may be a game against Holland at home in September. If he succeeds in his negotiations, the similarities with the Croatian fixture at Lansdowne Road in September 1998 could be striking.
Many pundits believe the Dutch will never have a better opportunity of adding to their European Championship success in Germany in 1988 than on home terrain this summer. The advantages of playing at home in a major championship were never more powerfully demonstrated than when France upset the odds to beat Brazil in the World Cup final at the Stade de France.
If Holland succeed and can be persuaded to play in Dublin in the autumn, history may repeat itself and, like the Croatians two years before them, they could have difficulty in getting fully motivated again so soon after summer heroics.
Portugal will also be very much involved in the European finals in Holland and Belgium and after being drawn in the same group as England in the first phase, they will be familiar with the kind of football they are likely to encounter against Ireland.
The doomsday scenario is that the Irish could find themselves playing the return leg in Lisbon at the end of the programme. Mindful of the fate which befell the Republic there in a similar situation during qualifying for the 1996 European finals, that is not a scenario which fills McCarthy with enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, the FAI are hopeful of completing their build-up programme for World Cup qualifying within the next few weeks when agents representing some South American countries will be offering fixtures for both April and May.
The only game agreed at this stage is the February 23rd meeting with the Czech Republic at Lansdowne Road, but it is hoped to arrange two or possibly three additional fixtures before McCarthy takes his squad to America for the US Cup in June.
