We might have been weeping into our pints on Saturday night, but look on the bright side, without the intervention of two Alan Kelly saves late in the game against Macedonia (especially that one from Georgi Hristov's header) things could have been a whole lot worse - so he wins our Irish player of the week award.

We could be cruel and give a runners-up prize to honorary Irishman Drazen Ladic, the Croatian goalkeeper, whose Massimo Taibi-like fumble led to Yugoslavia's second goal and, ultimately, helped Ireland in to the play-offs. But we won't.