France: The disappointment of the World Cup in Korea where they went out in the first round after losing to both Senegal and Denmark seems like a fairly distant memory these days for a side that has just cruised through the qualifying stages of Euro 2004 with eight wins out of eight and just two goals conceded.
Under Jacques Santini, a side that won the World Cup in 1998 and European Championship two years later has continued to evolve impressively and with the likes of Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet having reached their peaks over the past couple of years the team now looks as strong as ever.
For the most part the squad is now a young one with most of the players born in the mid to late 1970s and many will be in their prime during the next World Cup campaign. Apart from having won international honours, most have considerable Champions League experience, including a couple of winners, and almost all first team regulars at leading clubs.
Emmanuel Petit, Youri Djorkaeff and Christophe Dugarry are amongst those to have retired over the past couple of years and Marcel Desailly and Bixente Lizarazu may well follow in the wake of next summer's European finals. There are doubts, too, as to how long Zinedine Zidane will continue playing for his country but Santini said yesterday the 31-year-old midfielder had given no firm indication that he intends to depart quite yet.
"Sometimes he says he will go in the press and other times that if his body allows him then he will play another campaign," said the French coach yesterday.
Even if the Real Madrid star does depart, however, the French just might survive. In central midfield there are still Patrick Vieira and Claude Makelele while in almost every other area of the field, it seems, there are rising stars - many the products of the French association's famous academy at Clairefontaine - with the likes of William Gallas and Philippe Mexes developing into outstanding players.
He may have plenty to work with but Santini has also shown himself to be an astute coach since leaving league champions Lyon to take over the national team last year and having already won the Confederations Cup with almost embarrassing ease his side will go to Portugal as favourites to retain their European title.
The coach admitted yesterday he did not yet know too much about the Irish but said he had been interested in bringing Damien Duff from Blackburn to Lyon until he heard the sort of money that would be involved. He is better acquainted with most of the rest of the group as the Israelis and Cypriots were both in France's qualifying group for Euro 2004 while the Swiss, who the French played in a friendly game recently, have been drawn in the same group for next summer's finals.
They haven't played Ireland since drawing 0-0 at Dalymount Park back in February 1989 but a decade or so before that the two nations were regular opponents in the qualifying stages of the World Cup. They were first drawn together for the 1954 competition and after a 20-year gap they were paired for three tournaments in a row starting the preliminary stages of the 1974 tournament.
In 1981 the Irish almost progressed from an incredibly tight group that also included Belgium, the Netherlands and Cyprus at the expense of the French after beating them 3-2 at Lansdowne Road thanks to an own goal and strikes by Michael Robinson and Frank Stapleton. But the French, who had won the home game 2-0, won their matches in hand and went on to play in Spain.
Overall, Ireland's record against the team is good with four wins and three draws in 11 meetings. The French have moved on quite some distance since the 70s and early 80s when they lost all of their competitive games in Dublin.
Ireland's record against the French: P 11 W 4 D 3 L 4 F 13 A 15
Switzerland
The Swiss qualified for next summer in Portugal in somewhat charmed fashion. The Irish experiment of finishing the game without a left back gave them a surprise away win back at the start and brought about the end of Mick McCarthy's reign. By the time the sides played the return in Basel every other team in the group had fancied their chances of winning through, the Russians had thumped four goals past the Swiss and the Irish were in transition with several McCarthy loyalists having mislaid their love of the green.
A tame Irish display in Basel was enough to save Swiss embarrassment. The side is solid and muscular but it would be a major surprise if they achieved anything next summer. The emerging Cabanas is a star who will be worth watching while Hakan Yakin provides the balance of creativity.
Elsewhere, they are solid and tough and in keeping with national stereotype, well organised. As Ireland discovered in Basel the versatile Raphael Wicky performs a holding job on behalf of his defence and the centre back pairing of Henchoz and Murat Yakin, though seldom on speaking terms, provide further barriers to progress.
Imminent retirements, especially that of the often sublime Stephane Chapuisat will rob them of a little something and it remains to be seen if the venerable Kobi Kuhn will stay on as manager for another term. With Chapuisat's departure we can expect a fuller role for Alexander Frei, the former Under 21 star whose partnership with Yakin looks promising.
The Swiss reckon on entering a brief period of transition in the coming year or so and Brian Kerr's team should be ahead of them. Nor will the Irish want for motivation having left points behind them in both their recent meetings.
Ireland's record against Switzerland: P W D L F A 13 7 1 5 16 9
Israel
The last competitive international to be played on Israeli soil was in October 2001 when the Israelis drew 1-1 with Austria. Since then thy have played their home fixtures in Italy and Turkey and have been allowed just the occasional exhibition game in Tel Aviv.
Despite the optimism of the Israelis this week that seems unlikely to change. As recently as late August of this year UEFA re-affirmed their directive that the Israelis play all home games in neutral territory.
That's just one more problem for a team with many.
In his day, Haim Revivo was the sensation of Israeli soccer and looked like being the sensation of European soccer. One goal he scored at Anfield (making Phil Babb look foolish) while playing for Celta Vigo was a candidate for goal of the year and it was Revivo's will and skill which dragged Israel to the play-offs for Euro 2000.
Since then his form has ebbed and flowed and he has had a couple of changes of club. He will be 32 in February and despite being Israel's leading scorer in the recent World Cup campaign there are signs of decline.
Like his compatriot Eyal Berkovic, Revivo has never become the player he threatened to be and now the two veterans prepare for what will most likely be their final campaign in the blue and white.
Around them is a team with plenty of domestic experience but little else going for it. Balili and Afek are goalscorers of modest accomplishment and Anwat Dudu is an experienced keeper but more was expected of them in the last campaign.
The difficulty for the Israelis is lifting themselves again. The players needed aren't there, the chances of emerging from the group are slim.
Their great victories are behind them. With the prospect of playing in Palermo or Antalyai (in Turkey) Kerr will be hoping for a large travelling contingent and a good early start.
Ireland's record against Israel: P W D L F A 3 1 1 1 5 3
Faroe Islands
With just two full-time professionals, team manager Henrik Larsen will not be expected to engineer any huge upsets during this campaign but under the guidance of the former Danish international the collection of postmen, primary school teachers and fishermen have become a good deal more difficult to beat in recent times.
Larsen said yesterday that while it would be a huge honour simply to have France come to play at the association's new stadium at Torshavn the team would be aiming to at least exert some influenceon the race for qualification.
Last time around two goals from John Petersen cost the Scots a couple of points on their trip to the islands and, says Larsen, "we almost got a draw against the Germans as well so there is certainly evidence that we are improving.
"Our hope this time will simply be to improve some more and if we do that then perhaps we can do a little bit of damage again to the group's big guns." Ireland's record against the Faroe Islands: Ireland have never played the Faroe Islands.
Cyprus
A tricky place to travel to. The last time the Irish were there the atmosphere on a cool, windy night was disturbed by English squaddies billeted on the island hurling abuse at several Irish players. One of those players, Jason McAteer, later confessed he found the barracking most distracting but found the barking and hectoring of Roy Keane genuinely frightening. McAteer turned in a good performance. Keane was sublime. Ireland got out with a win that was a tribute to the team's maturity and the leadership it had on the pitch.
Maturity and leadership are, as it happens, the two elements which Brian Kerr would most urgently like to instill in his side. On a night like that one who among the current panel would take the game and the team by the scruff of the neck and forcefully squeeze a result out? The Cypriots continue to be a spiky and formidable prospect at home, while travelling poorly. No big stars but plenty or organisation and effort. Kerr and many of his team will have fond memories of this place though. They'll not want them tarnished.
Ireland's record against Cyprus: P W D L F A
4 4 0 0 17 2
