Settled side gets chance to take root

Chances are that in years to come the Paraguayan players who line out this evening will not list this occasion amongst their fondest sporting memories. Lansdowne Road on a stiff February night is the stuff of hardy souls and the South Americans travel here under a new manager and with only two of their World Cup squad in tow. Hugo Almeida, the manager who succeeded Paulo Carpegiani, has all but admitted that he is only slightly less familiar with the Irish squad than he is with his own.

Any hopes he may have had of forcing a draw or an unlikely win cannot have increased when word of Mick McCarthy's team spread at lunchtime yesterday. This Irish side won't vary greatly from the side which will play Macedonia in six weeks' time. It's strong and has a nice balance, particularly in midfield where Damien Duff again gets an opportunity to sparkle.

It is imperative that Duff tries to be creative tonight. He needs to be encouraged to attack because in Mark Kinsella, Roy Keane and Jason McAteer we have players who are more than capable of holding solid and covering gaps left by the winger's exploits forward.

Up front, McCarthy has opted for his strongest combination. Robbie Keane is extremely important to this European qualifying effort. As with Duff, it is essential that he learns with every cap. Besides having an abundance of natural ability, I think he will act as a nice foil for Niall Quinn. Since he joined Sunderland, Big Niall is enjoying the most consistent form of his career, albeit in the first division. He partners a lad called Kevin Phillips at the Stadium of Light who favours a style not unlike that of Robbie Keane's. If Ireland can drop a regular supply of decent ball for Quinn to lay on to Keane, then the team ought to create a reasonable number of scoring opportunities. We have to assume that Keith O'Neill's incredible injury run is not going to end any time soon, but ideally McCarthy would like to have him pressing for his place from bench. That would give us our soundest attacking framework in five or six years.

If one was to search for a weakness in this Irish side - not necessarily tonight but against Macedonia or Croatia - the heart of the defence again looks vulnerable. McCarthy has once more installed Gary Breen alongside Kenny Cunningham, despite the fact that he made a mistake against Yugoslavia, allowing Mijatovic to nail a winner the home side never really deserved.

Breen is a lad with unquestionable talent, he does a lot of things well. But to be honest, he has made a mistake virtually every time I have seen him play. Our most pressing need is to develop consistent away form. Ultimately, this will decide whether or not we qualify for the finals. We have the spirit, we have the organisation, and as a unit we have the capacity to defend well. But if you were an opposing manager, you would pinpoint the centre of our defence as a possible area to exploit.

We are far from paper thin at the back, of course - Ian Harte deservedly returns in what is unquestionably his strongest position, Denis Irwin will be unflappable as ever at right back and Kenny Cunningham is fast on the way to establishing himself as a solid, reliable international. There is just that niggling doubt about Breen, that worrying capacity of his to wander mentally.

"Friendlies are strange sort of games. The most positive thing that can be said about them is that they are a cut above training and they offer players a bit of a diversion in demanding domestic season."

That said, we lack quality central defenders and it could be argued that McCarthy has little option but to persist with the current pairing. Phil Babb is plagued with the same problems that have left a question mark over Breen. It will be interesting to see how Paul Butler, the Sunderland defender who played in the B team last night, fares over the coming months. He offers some sort of alternative for McCarthy to play about with. We should win tonight and win comfortably. Friendlies are strange sort of games. The most positive thing that can be said about them is that they are a cut above training and they offer players a bit of a diversion in a very demanding domestic season.

Paraguay aren't the most enticing opposition. They got to the second round to the World Cup on the back of a grim defence and the only splash of colour was provided by charismatic goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert. That they have arrived here without virtually their entire World Cup squad suggests that Mr Almeida has an unusually strong experimental bent. These are two sides who know little about each other and care less. They both have very different agendas and will approach this match for what it is - a chance to play together.

If Ireland win, it's unlikely that the players will return to their clubs over-elated, but a victory would copper-fasten their enthusiasm in the run-up to the potential tricky match in Macedonia. On the flip side, a dull game and a defeat, perhaps incurred through a goal against the run of play, wouldn't be the end of the world.

But it would raise more questions, self-doubts and bring added pressure, which is the last thing this Irish squad wants given that it looks more settled than at any time over the past nine months.

We have the depth and individual quality to win. The midfield pattern will almost certainly revolve around Roy Keane, the home team should dictate the tempo of the match and, hopefully, the Irish fans will see the already familiar Robbie Keane goal salute before the evening ends.

Expect a bit of cheer to ease us past the dark days. It might give us some optimism for tougher days ahead.

(In an interview with Keith Duggan)