You didn't need a sports psychologist to work out the reason for the slightly more subdued departure of the legendary Green Army for Tokyo yesterday. It just didn't seem like a day for Ole, Ole, Oles.

But cheered by Bertie Ahern's clarion call to get behind the Irish team - and his spot-on remark that the match against Cameroon might mark the first Saturday morning the whole country would make a point of getting up early - fans were putting on a brave face as the Roy Keane saga finally came to an end.

Christy Doyle from Tallaght looked downhearted as he made his way to passport control after a long wait to check-in. "I'm devastated that we are going to the World Cup and leaving behind the best player in the world," he said. "But I am really looking forward to it all."

With Mick McCarthy hinting yesterday that he might stay on as manager after the World Cup, FAI official John Delaney looked relaxed as he checked in for his first-class flight. The Tipperary accountant might not have been as calm had he stumbled across the hundreds of fans in the cheap seats. "I blame the FAI," boys and girls in green could be heard muttering all over the departures lounge as they readjusted orange wigs and consulted Japanese phrasebooks.

While many were content to "let the lads get on with it and support them all the way", there was a palpable sense that things were different this time.

"There are no winners in this," said Gerry Carthy from Portmarnock. "I hold the FAI 100 per cent responsible for this fiasco."

Others were more optimistic.Glen Murray from Arbour Hill in Dublin was "delighted" to heading off to Japan for his fourth world cup. "If his heart isn't in it then it is better he doesn't come," he said of Keane. "We'll manage without him. We are still Irish no matter what."

Wearing green, white and orange braces on her teeth, Sabrina Meehan (15) from Santry was feeling "quite excited".

"There is more than one player on a team," she said as Dad, Paul and Mum Mary, nodded in agreement.

Ross Nelson (23) and Karen Nolan (22) were just happy to be going anywhere after a tense two-hour wait. Ross had won a competition to go to the World Cup, but there had been a mix up with the couple's reservations and they were lucky to pick up stand-by seats at the last minute.

Delaney, at 34 the youngest ever FAI treasurer, said wearily that this had been a week he would never forget "as long as I live".

"It's over now, we have closure," he said. "The FAI are a soft target, it is easy to blame us. But we tried all week to resolve this behind the scenes."

Martin Taylor wore a smile on his face and a jacket with Good Luck Ireland written in Japanese on the back. He said he wasn't bothered by the Keane debacle. "People seem to have forgotten about this," he said, thumping his chest. "The heart of the Irish."