SOCCER/Republic of Ireland 3 Sweden 0: Having sent his players out with orders to put the excitement back into Irish football last night at Lansdowne Road, even Steve Staunton must have been a little surprised by the panache with which they took to the challenge. Emmet Malone reports from  Lansdowne Road.

Almost without exception the Republic's stars, both old and new, shone against World Cup finalists of considerable ability, earning a comfortable win thanks to fine goals by Damien Duff, Robbie Keane and Liam Miller, and performing with sufficient style and swagger to suggest the new manager's much talked about rebuilding project may take a good deal less time than envisaged.

It would be foolish, of course, to forget there was little at stake in this game but Sweden did field a strong selection of players, many of whom had points to prove to their manager Lars Lagerback. Few, as it turned out, will feel they did much to further their claims to starting spots in Germany come June.

The long-standing tradition that countries facing the prospect of a major championship encounter with England first seek out a Dublin friendly in order to get a feel for the rather unique challenges of the "British game" might, of course, seem like something of a backhanded insult to the Republic and its players. Still, with 44,109 people packing into Lansdowne Road last night to see the Staunton era begin, the Football Association of Ireland are hardly complaining.

But it's a little hard to believe that Sweden really here to find out about a game they already know all too well and harder still to believe they don't regret the trip this morning as they head home fresh from a defeat that will generate high hopes in England of a first victory over their old rivals since 1968.

The Irish, in contrast, had won their only meeting with Sweden, 2-0, at Lansdowne Road back in 1999. That win, though, was not, as the scoreline might suggest, even two thirds as comprehensive for last night, particularly in the second half, the home side simply swept their visitors aside.

The performance was surely as good as the new manager could have hoped for but the goals were all a little bit special. From Duff's first opener, the result of a neat piece of running in from the left and a deflected shot to the bottom right corner, to Miller's outstanding long-range strike from 25 yards after a build up involving Stephen Ireland and Duff.

Between the two came Keane's 26th goal at this level, a fiercely-struck low drive that the Dubliner finished sweetly after Ian Harte had headed a Swedish kick-out over the visiting defence to send his skipper clear. Even by then the visiting manager had made a good many changes to his starting line-up and a defence that had conceded just four goals in 10 World Cup qualifying games was looking more than a little chaotic.

As the Irish repeatedly overran their opponents it took the intervention of a solitary flag-waving home supporter to finally remind us what might have looked sublime might simply have been a little ridiculous.

For all of that, however, Staunton's players could only perform with the vigour that their new manager had demanded and beat opponents who, on recent form, deserved to be regarded as favourites before the kick-off.

To the delight of the home support they managed both with considerable enthusiasm. Though he'd named his team on Tuesday, the precise nature of the new manager's shake-up didn't become apparent until kick-off when the withdrawn role occupied by his new skipper, Keane, gave the team a distinctive new shape. The results were mixed early on with both Stephen Elliott and Kevin Doyle creating decent chances but Keane himself taking a little time to get to grips with things just behind the front two.

Ireland made the brighter start of the two sides in what was, from the outset, an engagingly opening contest.

Duff looked to have regained some of the sparkle so conspicuously absent through much of the last campaign while Steve Reid's passing was a key factor in the Republic's early attacks and the source of the opening goal.

At the back there were occasional lapses, a couple in particular just short of the half hour that might well have resulted in Swedish goals had Zlatan Ibrahimovic got a hold of his shots while a Henrik Larsson volley soared just over the bar.

But there were plenty of positives from an Irish perspective, not least the confidence with which Joey O'Brien took to international football on this, his debut, and the clear signs from Richard Dunne that he is capable of assuming the pivotal leadership role in central defence.

Dunne managed to account for two of the visiting players with particularly firm challenges on Ibrahimovic and Tobias Linderoth, forcing Lagerback to replace both men. Given the nature of the game the visitors might feel slightly aggrieved at the Manchester City defender's exuberance but Staunton will not have been displeased to see he has a centre back with a taste for imposing himself physically on games.

Nor can he have been disappointed with the younger players he gave run outs to during the second half with Stephen Ireland, a scuffed shot on goal aside, particularly impressive on his debut and Miller marking his return with a tremendous first international goal.

Would that it all worked out so smoothly when Staunton tells his players to thrill us in Stuttgart. Right now, though, it's hard not to feel just a little tingle.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Given (Newcastle United); J O'Brien (Bolton Wanderers), Dunne (Manchester City), A O'Brien (Portsmouth), Harte (Levante); S Reid (Blackburn Rovers), O'Shea (Manchester United), Duff (Chelsea); Keane (Tottenham Hotspur); Doyle (Reading), Elliott (Sunderland). Subs: Henderson (Brighton) for Given, Ireland (Manchester City) for Elliott, Kavanagh (Wigan Athletic) for O'Shea (all 49 mins), Kilbane (Everton), for J O'Brien, Miller (Leeds United) for Harte (61 mins), Morrison (Crystal Palace) for Doyle (68 mins).

SWEDEN: Isaksson; Ostlund, Mellberg, Hansson, Edman; Elmander, Kallstrom, Linderoth, Wilhelmsson; Ibrahimovic, Larsson. Subs: Rosenberg for Ibrahimovic (37 mins), Jonson for Elmander and Svensson for Kallstrom (61 mins), Andersson for Linderoth (70 mins), Andersson for Ostlund (74 mins), Allback for Larsson (80 mins).

Referee: D Ledentu (France).