At full-time I thought, "I know where I'd like to be now, and it's not the fifth floor of Broadcasting House at the BBC Television Centre in London" - anywhere in Ireland would have done nicely. Qualifying for the 2002 World Cup finals? Tell you what, I think it's an even finer and bigger achievement than Jack Charlton reaching Italia '90.

Why? Because we don't have a Houghton, an Aldridge, a Townsend, a Whelan, a McGrath, an O'Leary, a McCarthy or a Bonner - we have a Roy Keane and some promising players, so to qualify for this World Cup, I believe, is a bigger and better achievement, bearing in mind the players Mick McCarthy has had at his disposal.

McCarthy out of Jack's shadows? God, definitely. I thought he was on his way to being out of his shadow anyway, but most definitely now. Jack did a wonderful job, there's absolutely no doubt about it, but he had better material to work with.

I've said time and time again that Roy Keane is our only world-class player, but we all know that any team is only as strong as its weakest link and that's been our strength throughout - there hasn't been a weak link.

Consider that, today, in a tie where the winners would go through to the World Cup, we finished up with a forward line made up of two Division One strikers, David Connolly and Clinton Morrison. That says it all.

Overall, yes, Keane was the outstanding player of the campaign, but I think a close second would have to be Steve Staunton - the story is just great.

Virtually in the wilderness, on loan at Crystal Palace, couldn't get back in the Villa team - but now, when Keane isn't playing, he's the first name down on the team sheet.

Jason McAteer is the same, back in after a rough time at club level.

McCarthy also stood by Robbie Keane when he lost some form and fitness.

Richard Dunne? He's another one, a fantastic contribution when it was needed. All the way through it's been a case of "if you get in the team and you play well, no matter what your club circumstances are, you stay in the team", and that's the best way you can have it. That level of loyalty is how McCarthy got his payback, by treating every one the same so that every player knew if he did his job when he played he'd keep his place the next time.

I always thought we'd be okay in Tehran, I never honestly thought the Iranians would trouble us too much after the way we've played through the qualifying campaign.

Yes, I was a little bit surprised by how little pressure we were put under in the first half, but you often find that; most teams just cannot change the way they play and when they really need to up the tempo they just seem to find it really difficult.

Once you announce that you're playing 4-4-2 away from home there are no grey areas for players. We had this level of performance in our first game and this was our 12th, it's been the same all the way through so we knew exactly what we would get from these players. At no point in this campaign did we have to question the work rate or say that we didn't close people down, because we have done, in every single game.

While the goal was a little bit galling it meant nothing - in a way losing the unbeaten record is quite handy because that would have hung around the team like a millstone. To lose it in a game where we've qualified for the World Cup is fine, it means nothing.

After his initial period in the job McCarthy has learnt extremely quickly, he's stuck to his values and principles and his honesty in terms of team selection and the way he's sent them out to play has, basically, got him his just rewards. We have a team atmosphere and camaraderie that we're more accustomed to seeing in club football, so to replicate that in international football tells you something about the management and the players.

Reaching the World Cup finals? An absolutely magnificent achievement, as good a one as any other Irish manager or set of players has ever achieved.

And trust me, when the draw is made on December 1st, nobody will want us in their group.

In an interview with Mary Hannigan