His continuing re-emergence as a key player in the Irish back-four - not to mention the ease he and Steve Staunton settled in together at the heart of the defence against Denmark on Wednesday - could well have been the talking point of the game. Emmet Malone reports

As he sat back and considered the evening's events before heading back to London, though, Kenny Cunningham was under no illusions about the fact that it was Damien Duff who had stolen this week's show at Lansdowne Road.

The 30-year-old might even have felt just a tiny bit of sympathy for Martin Lauren and Thomas Rytter as they tried, but failed, to come to grips with the pace and agility of the Blackburn Rovers winger.

He's been there himself, after all. Four times, in fact, and the defender is still waiting to be on the winning side in one of their encounters.

"He's very difficult to play against," said Cunningham yesterday, "you've got to be so clever in dealing with him. In one-on-one situations it's particularly hard because he has a low centre of gravity.

"With some forwards you can use your body strength against them, but with Damien he can lean into you and glide past you. People don't realise how quick he is until they're on the same pitch as him."

Having seen him take a couple of the Danes to the cleaners on Wednesday, Cunningham is decidedly upbeat about the impact the 22-year-old stands to make at the World Cup this summer.

"He's an awesome prospect," he says, "he could be one of the stars of the tournament. Invariably, in every World Cup someone comes out of the crowd unexpectedly and makes a real names for himself. Who is to say that it won't be Damien this summer?

"Players and defenders there won't be as aware of Damien and the ability he possesses. He could well catch a few people by surprise."

The most immediate question raised by Wednesday night's performance, however, is whether or not McCarthy should persist with his ploy of using the young Dubliner in attack rather than out on the flank where he is playing his club football on a week to week basis.

Since being switched to the attack for the first time at the end of last season he has consistently performed strongly, particularly since coming to grips with the need to avoid coming too deep all of the time.

Against the Dutch he was superb, especially after Gary Kelly was sent off and Robbie Keane substituted, leaving him to operate alone against one of the most highly-rated defences in the world. What remains open to question, however, is just how natural a goalscorer he is.

It had increasingly come to be accepted that his partnership with Keane had been successful enough to make it a central part of Mick McCarthy's plans for Japan.

The ease with which he provided a steady supply of good quality crosses for Keane and Clinton Morrison on Wednesday might well prompt a rethink, although a great deal depends on whether the Crystal Palace striker can really confirm over the weeks ahead that he represents a realistic alternative up front.

Despite the strength of Wednesday's performance, however, Cunningham maintains that Duff would be best used in the more advanced role this summer.

"It's a great dilemma for Mick to have," he says. "But when he plays on the wing it's difficult to feed him at times and a game can pass him by.

"When he's played up front he's been a real threat. He can have it at his feet. He can twist and turn and really go at people."

Asked about Duff after Wednesday's game, McCarthy joked that Rytter would have nightmares about the young Irishman, but, he added: "Kevin Kilbane has been superb for us over the last few years so I will have to think hard about what to do."

Having struggled so long to find an alternative to relying on Niall Quinn up front, he seems unconvinced as yet that there are any better options to persisting with the Rovers player in the more advanced role.

Duff's club manager, meanwhile, yesterday made it clear that he was deeply unhappy with the fact that Duff had played all but six minutes of what he referred to as a "Mickey Mouse" friendly.

"There was absolutely no thought for Damien and no thought for Blackburn Rovers," said Graeme Souness. "Damien's got a history of hamstring injuries and he picks those up when he's tires like a lot of people do.

"I hope he (McCarthy) appreciates that we've got two hard games coming up in three days. Do I just play Damien for an hour in both to protect him now?"

Souness admitted, however, that he had not contacted McCarthy to request that the Dubliner be taken off early, claiming, somewhat bizarrely, to have been "scared" that the Ireland manager might have reacted badly.

Souness's attack represents a very minor sour note in what has otherwise been a very good week indeed for McCarthy. Morrison's goal, Nicky Colgan's save and the general contribution of both Colin Healy and Steven Reid were all amongst the positive aspects of what was commonly acknowledged to have been an extremely satisfactory display.

With one more friendly international to come before the manager names his travelling party of 23, all four are now firmly in contention to be included in the panel.

McCarthy is still juggling a number of options, though, as he prepares to make his final selection and three of the places on the trip will probably be decided by the ability of Steve Carr, Gary Doherty and Alan Kelly to prove their fitness over the coming few weeks.