Damien Duff and Robbie Keane, aggregate age 37 years and 36 days, were yesterday entrusted with much of the responsibility for ensuring a good result against for the Republic of Ireland against Mexico at Lansdowne Road today.
Both have been given critical roles in a team which features Curtis Fleming at right back with Gareth Farrelly joining Lee Carsley in central midfield.
On the last occasion Duff and Keane teamed up together, in March, they attracted a sell-out crowd to Tolka Park for a B international, although the Republic were surprisingly beaten 1-0 by Northern Ireland. Now the hope is that the two players can some how summon the skills to cut the task against the Mexicans to manageable proportions.
Its an improbable scenario at the end of Mick McCarthy's preparations for the European Championship campaign which begins in the autumn. Originally, the hope was that he would be able to field a full-strength team but, as he acknowledged yesterday, that aspiration has long since disappeared.
"It's fair to suggest that the squad for this game will not be reflected in the one I choose for the first European fixture," he said. "Still, it's an opportunity for everybody to impress the manager."
To present Duff with his first home appearance as a senior international McCarthy was forced to jettison Mark Kennedy, one of his better players in the closing stages of the last World Cup campaign last year, and who was again prominent in the less-pressurised setting of the Paul McGrath testimonial game last Sunday.
That, almost certainly, is less a reflection on Kennedy's talent than a testimony to the high regard he holds for Duff. A brilliant opening 20 minutes against the Czech Republic in his last game tapered off subsequently and the hope is that on home terrain his influence on the game will last significantly longer.
In Duff's absence, Keane seized the chance to endear himself to the crowd with some aggressive running against Argentina last month. That hinted at a substantial international career in the making and now, in partnership with David Connolly, he is unlikely to shirk the job of testing the conviction of the Mexicans' tackling.
For Farrelly, its a heaven-sent opportunity to hit the heights for a third consecutive week. It was his fine goal which kept Everton in the Premiership in a 1-1 draw with Coventry on May 10th, and last Sunday he produced an even more flamboyant strike in Paul McGrath's testimonial match.
Accurate, long-range shooting has not often been in evidence in Ireland performances in recent years and if the Everton player is, perhaps, one of those whom McCarthy considers expendable for the European programme, the midfielder now has the chance of forcing a sharp reappraisal of the manager's options. Carsley found himself with a change of brief yesterday after the brilliant Luis Garcia had been left out of the Mexican team by manager Manuel Lapuento. Instead of tracking the man capped 75 times by Mexico, Carsley is now likely to be given the job of restricting another of Lapuento's senior players, Ramon Ramirez.
The Irish camp will be glad to see the back of Garcia, who was responsible for all four of their goals in the two most recent meetings of the countries, including those which gave the Mexicans an unexpected 2-1 win in the World Cup finals in Orlando four years ago.
Fleming will need no reminding that the last occasion he started an international game at right back was also against Mexico, in the 22 draw in the Giants Stadium in New Jersey two years ago.
That game, like the World Cup finals meeting, was controversial, with McCarthy joining Niall Quinn and Liam Daish for an early shower after the game erupted into something approaching violence.
Fleming will take a bandaged hand into today's game, but it hasn't inconvenienced him unduly in training which concluded yesterday with a session at the squad's headquarters at Carrickmacross.
Gary Breen will be joined by Phil Babb in central defence with Ian Harte at left back, prompting one questioner at yesterday's press briefing to infer than McCarthy had abandoned the idea of converting the Leeds United youngster into a central defender. The remark got short shrift from the manager.
Harte will be fiercely determined to vindicate McCarthy's judgment with a big performance against today's opposition. Gary Kelly will captain the Irish team for the first time, but it is the Mexicans who will be in green, having gained permission to wear it.
Shay Given plays in goal after shrugging off doubts about his fitness.
At the opposite end of the ground the colourful Jorge Campos, who played his 100th game for Mexico last month, will, likewise, hold much of the crowd's attention.
There is an obvious imbalance in the meeting of a team preparing for the start of the World Cup finals in just over a fortnight and one merely marking time at this belated stage of the season. Let us hope that by the time battle is done, it will not be reflected in the scoreline.
Republic Of Ireland: S Given (Newcastle Ud); C Fleming (Middlesbrough), G Breen (Coventry), P Babb (Liverpool), I Harte (Leeds Utd); G Kelly (Leeds Utd), L Carsley (Derby Co), G Farrelly (Everton), D Duff (Blackburn); R Keane (Wolves), D Connolly (Feyenoord).
Mexico: J Campos; P Pardo, J Sanchez, D Davino, B Luna; A Aspe, J Ordiales, C Suarez, R Ramirez; L Hernandez, C Blanco.
