Republic of Ireland v Saudi Arabia, 12.30:  With his side's preparations for today's game against Saudi Arabia more or less complete yesterday, Mick McCarthy observed that, while he had always been confident his Ireland team could make the second round of these World Cup finals, he'd have gladly taken the side's current position if it had been offered to him back in Dublin, writes Emmet Malone

He'd certainly, you suspect, have grabbed it with both hands a couple of weeks back, for, as he and all but one of the original travelling party left Saipan, even the Ireland boss must have wondered whether the final disintegration of his relationship with the man they were leaving behind would mean an early end to his World Cup dreams.

Instead, he finds himself on the verge of leading Ireland to the knock-out stages of the competition for what would be their third time in three appearances. A win, quite possibly by two goals, over Saudi Arabia is still required, but by getting this far McCarthy has defied those critics who maintained his handling of events in Saipan would be a prelude to humiliation.

McCarthy gave a rare hint yesterday of the pressure he felt in the wake of sending Roy Keane home by admitting that the match against Cameroon had been the biggest of his life. Normally the Ireland boss sticks rigidly to the line that the next game, whatever that might be, is always the most important, but there was a far more honest ring to his admission that the team's game at Niigata brought an added strain.

"You know perfectly well why," he sighed when asked to explain his reasoning, and sure enough, no one at the press conference in Chiba City didn't know what McCarthy would have been put through had Ireland been beaten by the African champions.

Two drawn games later, however, it is Winfried Schafer and Rudi Voller who will be hoping that the Saudis can continue the improvement shown last Thursday and prevent Ireland securing the two-goal victory that would ensure the team's progression.

Ireland has never scored two goals in a game at a World Cup finals, and neither of Jack Charlton's sides required to win their last group match in order to make the knock-out stages. Now, McCarthy's must do both to avoid needing an outright win for one team or the other in the day's other Group E game to get them through.

But there is considerable confidence within the Irish camp that the required win can be achieved, even if nobody is foolish enough to think the outcome is anything close to being a foregone conclusion.

The Irish cause is boosted by the fact that McCarthy has a full squad to choose from, while midfielder Ibrahim Al-Shahrani became the latest Saudi to join Nasser Al-Johar's extensive injury list over the weekend.

Not that it should matter really. On paper at least there is little comparison in terms of the quality of these two sides, and if the Irish display the same passion and determination that characterised their performances in their previous two outings then they should win rather comfortably.

McCarthy was again tight-lipped about his starting line-up after training yesterday, but it seems likely there may be a little bit of fine tuning, with Ian Harte the most likely loser.

The Leeds left back has been disappointing so far, and after being caught badly by Miroslav Klose for the German goal last Wednesday he may now join Jason McAteer on the bench.

If McCarthy does choose to leave the 24-year-old out of the starting 11 for a competitive game for the first time since the European Championship play-off games against Turkey almost three years ago, the decision will have been made much less difficult by the performances of Steven Reid, who has settled in nicely on the two occasions when he has come on here.

The young Millwall midfielder has looked remarkably comfortable during the 30 minutes or so he has been involved, and the solid contributions he made to strong Irish finishes on those occasions may earn him his first competitive start if McCarthy replaces Harte with Gary Kelly on the left side.

The move would make sense, for Reid, like Harte, is good at set pieces and has already shown during the build-up to these finals that he can chip in with goals from play. And Kelly looks a better bet defensively on a day when the team may end up having to stretch itself slightly in the hunt for goals.

Where those will come from probably remains Ireland's greatest concern. It is virtually certain that McCarthy will persevere with Robbie Keane and Damien Duff up front, but the Ireland manager desperately needs the pair to start delivering on the faith he has shown in them as a striking partnership since first teaming them up for the friendly against Croatia last autumn.

Since then the pair, when playing as a pair, have scored just two goals between them, one for Duff against the Croats and one for Keane back in February against Russia. It is a disappointing return on seven games started together in attack.

Keane, meanwhile, has scored three during that time when his fellow Dubliner has been playing his more natural, attacking midfield role, was absent entirely or, as last week, when joined in attack by Niall Quinn.

Both played well against the Germans, but there is still no great evidence that they work especially well as a pairing. When Quinn arrived, on the other hand, Keane seemed to have a more intuitive understanding of how best to capitalise on the big man's efforts in and around the box.

Starting with Quinn, however, is no longer a realistic option these days, and McCarthy has invested too much in the young partnership to start reassessing his options now. In any case, there should be much more opportunity for the pair to show what they can do around the opposition area today.

In a game the Irish should dominate in terms of possession, Keane should be relieved of any obligation to chase back into midfield, and the result may just be the sort of match-winning performance on the big stage that McCarthy has been saying for some time now he believes the pair are capable of.

Even if they do struggle to find the net themselves, again their pace and movement should cause endless problems for a Saudi defence that, though much improved against Cameroon, still allowed a remarkable number of scoring chances to be created. Should things be as fast and loose again, then it is hard to see an Irish team that has only once gone 90 minutes without scoring in the past two years (and that when they went to Tehran to defend a two-goal lead) being frustrated indefinitely.

If somebody doesn't make an early breakthrough, of course, then it will be a nerve-racking encounter for the close to 10,000 supporters expected to cheer on the Irish. Just about everything suggests, however, that McCarthy's men are capable of winning by the required margin. And if they do, then Yokohama, fresh from the host nation's defeat of Russia on Sunday, is in for its second party in a matter of days.