The performance in Paris should represent the benchmark of what can be achieved next time around, writes EMMET MALONE

WHILE FRANCE head for Cape Town and a World Cup opener with Uruguay on June 11th next, Giovanni Trapattoni and his players will, as likely as not, be wrapping up their season at Craven Cottage again with another of those low-key, late May friendlies.

It will, in other words, be another summertime when the living is disappointingly easy for the Irish.

This year’s offering on the banks of the Thames was a tame enough encounter with Nigeria that ended all square but by the time the French came to town for the first of November’s play-off games, the real significance of the London match had become apparent.

The emergence of Sean St Ledger had, in the ongoing absence of Steve Finnan, allowed the Republic of Ireland’s Italian manager to reshape his defence while another of that night’s debutants, Liam Lawrence, had come to offer the veteran coach a different sort of option – one in which strength and stamina were key components – out on the Irish wings.

How much he can do to further broaden his options between now and the start of the European Championship campaign next autumn remains to be seen but there can be little question that Trapattoni’s first campaign, and this year in particular, has gone as well as could reasonably have been hoped.

In Bari, back in April, they had outplayed the world champions for stretches late on but on that occasion their opponents had been harshly reduced to 10 men early in the contest and the Irish, needing to get something out of the game in order to keep their hopes of automatic qualification alive, simply upped the tempo of the game and made their extra man tell over time.

Against the French, it was rather different. Trapattoni’s side was genuinely the better for the bulk of the game. Glenn Whelan and Keith Andrews pushed on in a way they had rarely managed to over the course of the campaign, Kevin Kilbane coped well with Nicolas Anelka and Damien Duff produced a few glimpses of his old magic.

After his late error at home to the Italians, John O’Shea turned in an impressively controlled performance before departing due to injury and in every area of the pitch the players linked up well, keeping possession and testing their opponents when all too often previously they had let sides off the hook at key points in important games.

In terms of the 90 minutes, the performance yielded Ireland’s best display away for several decades. The pity, of course, was that, it was not enough to get Ireland to the finals.

Thierry Henry saw to that and while the leaderships of both the FAI and Fifa managed to make rather a meal of the aftermath, it was the Barcelona striker’s role in William Gallas’s extra-time goal that left the initial sour taste.

Trapattoni’ critics have, in the end, taken to suggesting that the performance in Paris should represent the benchmark of what can be achieved next time around and it’s a nice thought.

The reality, however, is that the team would do remarkably well to sustain that level of performance over the course of a campaign and we should probably be prepared to settle for more modest continued improvement from a side that has restored its reputation for being hard to beat but, less happily, difficult enough to watch at times too.

Aside from the most prominent of newcomers, it was a good year too for some of what are, at this stage, the team’s old timers. Ireland played nine competitive games and captain Robbie Keane, scored five times in the eight he started.

Long criticised for his tendency to rack up goals against the international scene’s less celebrated outfits, the Dubliner managed to find the net this time away to both of the finalists at the last World Cup.

Unfortunately, he also passed up a good chance to bag a second at the Stade de France and, most likely, propel the team he leads to South Africa in place of Henry and co.

Almost inevitably, Shay Given was a key figure once more although it happens that his only clean sheet of the year came in the pretty much meaningless end-of-group game against Montenegro. Keiren Westwood didn’t see too much action but the 25-year-old managed to cement his place as cover for Given.

At least as impressive as any of his team-mates, though, was Richard Dunne who might have been forgiven had the rather ridiculous way in which he was edged towards the Eastlands exit sign had taken its toll on his confidence.

Instead, the 30-year-old delivered some of his finest performances at international level this year and quickly established himself as a major force at Aston Villa. Mark Hughes must wonder now just what he was thinking.

Trapattoni, meanwhile, has limited opportunities to freshen up his squad before next September when the European Championships campaign gets under way.

There is one international date in March and another in August with a bit of a free-for-all thrown in during the build-up to World Cup kick off. A little bit of recruitment is likely and a few more young players may get look-ins but the team that starts the first qualifier next year will still be drawn from much the same group of players.

By then, the reconstructed Lansdowne Road, or Aviva Stadium, will have opened – the Argentinians will visit at the end of the summer – and the state of the FAI’s finances will be a little clearer.

John Delaney continues to talk the association’s position up but the suspicion is that it might be a little more Craven Cottage than Cape Town too.