Game 1: Sept 5th, '98 - Ireland 2 Croatia 0: The conventional wisdom was that this would be the best time to get Croatia and so it proved. The World Cup bronze medal winners, without Davor Suker and Alen Boksic, looked tired and sluggish on their first competitive outing since France '98. Denis Irwin opened the scoring after just four minutes and Roy Keane doubled the lead after 15.

Game 2: Oct 14th, '98 - Ireland 5 Malta 0: Pretty straightforward stuff, with Ireland playing well and Malta badly. Two goals from Robbie Keane in the opening 20 minutes ended any doubts about the outcome and three in the second half, from Roy Keane, Niall Quinn and Gary Breen, rounded off a very satisfactory afternoon for the home side.

Game 3: Nov 11th, '98 - Yugoslavia 1 Ireland 0: A good performance from Ireland. Tested their hosts over the 90 minutes and were unlucky not to come away with a point. Niall Quinn started as a lone striker, but the approach was generally positive with Damien Duff producing a fine display on the left side of midfield. In the end, though, a single Pedrag Mijatovic goal was enough to send McCarthy and his players home empty-handed.

Game 4: June 9th, '99 - Ireland 1 Macedonia 0: The margin should have been more comfortable, but given the slip-ups in the World Cup qualifying campaign at Lansdowne Road, nobody in the Irish camp was complaining too much. Niall Quinn's goal midway through the second period earned the three points. Gary Breen, Robbie Keane, Mark Kinsella and Tony Cascarino all went close to finding the net. So too, however, did Toni Micevski. Five minutes after the goal, his effort came back off the crossbar before Denis Irwin stepped in to clear.

Game 5: Sept 1st, '99 - Ireland 2 Yugoslavia 1: The outstanding Irish performance of the campaign and it put the team firmly in the hunt for the automatic qualifying spot. Robbie Keane scored the opening goal and after the visitors had equalised, Mark Kennedy let fly from 25 yards to grab the points for McCarthy's side. There were fine performances throughout the team, with Kevin Kilbane, Mark Kinsella and Roy Keane all on top form in midfield and the younger Keane showing that he could produce the goods in competitive surroundings against quality opposition.

Game 6: Sept 4th, '99 - Croatia 1 Ireland 0: Mick McCarthy came in for a fair bit of flak for his tactics as Ireland defended deep inside their own half for long stretches. He said that if Davor Suker hadn't scored four minutes into injury-time and his side had taken the point they had played for, then everybody would have hailed him as a genius. His critics preferred to focus on the flipside of this argument - Suker had, Ireland hadn't and he wasn't.

Game 7: Sept 8th, '99 - Malta 2 Ireland 3: A bizarre contest, with Ireland apparently coasting at 2-0 midway through the first half and then gradually surrendering control of the game to their hosts. Two goals in six minutes from the hosts pulled them back level and promised to wreck Irish hopes of qualification, but Steve Staunton, having already cleared off the line, stepped up to score a memorable free-kick which rescued the points.

Game 8: Oct 9th, '99 - Macedonia 1 Ireland 1: Another tale of injury-time woe. Three minutes into added time, Ireland, one up and seemingly destined for the automatic qualifying place, fell to another sucker punch. Truth was, after going ahead through a Niall Quinn goal in the 19th minute, Ireland offered up a pitiful performance and lacked the steel to close the game out. A play-off spot was somehow fitting reward.

Play-offs

Game 9: Nov 13th, '99 - Ireland 1, Turkey 1: Despite a less than convincing performance, Robbie Keane's 80-minute goal seemed likely to give McCarthy's team a first-leg advantage. Within four minutes, however, Lee Carsley quite literally handed Turkey the equaliser. His handball offence was ruthlessly punished by Tayfur from the penalty spot. Robbie Keane earned himself a yellow card and a suspension, compounding Ireland's problems after a difficult night.

Game 10: Nov 17th, '99 - Turkey 0, Ireland 0: Brave first-half performance peters out to a hanging-on job in the second half, with Dean Kiely impressive in his first start in the Irish goal. Game ends in controversy as Tony Cascarino, in almost certainly his last game for the Republic, becomes embroiled in a violent confrontation with his Turkish marker after the final whistle.