"WE played as if we were hanging on to a 1-0 lead," Irish striker Tony Cascarino said after the match in Skopje. "We dropped quite deep and looked like we were just going to hang on. Once we've gone 2-1, 3-1 down, we've started just getting it into the box. I think we played a bit in between today, the old way and the new way. We didn't really get it right.

More damningly, Cascarino detected the absence of one of the team's oldest and strongest qualities. "Everyone's a bit disappointed because we have always had our spirit and our fight. And I think we sort of just lost it a little bit today. I'm not saying we didn't give 100 per cent. But we weren't probably as committed as we should have been.

"The preparation was fine. I dunno what happened. I don't know whether the goal made it worse. It's a typical example of after scoring, the worst thing you can do is defend."