Greece 0 Republic of Ireland 0The Genesis report may have provided a prescription to cure many of the FAI's ills, but presumably not even the Scottish consultants, with a keen eye for underperformance, hold the secret of why it is that the association's team is incapable of providing the slightest hint of value for money when the outcome of their games counts for no more than pride. Emmet Malone reports from Athens.

Last night at the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium in Athens barely 4,000 were present to see the team - officially ranked the 14th best in the world - and most paid between just one and three euro for the privilege.

As the fans wandered off at the end of a dreary and draining game (both teams went off in the same vein), it can be safely assumed that a good percentage reckoned they had been short-changed by what had been offered up to them in the name of entertainment.

The visiting side were not the only guilty party. Otto Rehhagel's recent troubles in the opening stages of the European Championship campaign had left him needing to avoid the embarrassment of a home defeat last night, but neither the German nor his players seemed to possess much hunger for a win.

Against an Irish team that after the opening quarter hour had just one chance of note - a Glen Crowe goal was disallowed after a push by Gary Doherty - the Greeks looked utterly uninspired.

And the performance left no doubt that Rehhagel has a good deal of work to do between now and the spring, although at least he is in a position to get started which is, of course, more than can be said for the next Ireland boss.

With the stakes so low, however, and a good portion of the team the new manager is likely to start against the Georgians absent (the withdrawal of 10 players from the squad on Sunday night did not help the cause), it is probably a little unfair to set too much store by last night's performance. But even a hint of passion would have been nice.

For 10 minutes perhaps it did seem as if the few locals and handful of travelling supporters to make it along were going to be rewarded for the effort with an entertaining if not very competitive game.

Steadily, though, the teams settled into playing at a hopelessly lifeless pace that rarely threatened to qualify as pedestrian and we were left with a game that looked to be in need of much more that just a goal to get it going.

A goal, on the other hand, would at least have helped and Glen Crowe might have marked his debut at this level by providing it when Doherty lofted the ball in from the left after just six minutes and the Bohemians striker turned well only to volley straight at the Greek goalkeeper.

Within two minutes he was to get another crack at becoming the first player from the National League to score in an international since Ray Treacy's two against Turkey 24 years ago in Dublin.

This time the 24 year-old striker was at the heart of the build-up, picking possession up in midfield and pushing it neatly out wide to Stephen McPhail before pressing on into the area.

The Leeds midfielder then picked out Doherty on the far side of the area and after his knock-back the ball fell nicely to Lee Carsley who failed to make contact and then Crowe, who had time to gather and turn, shot just wide of the post from eight yards out.

Behind the front pairing, Carsley was Ireland's most industrious contributor, particularly early on, comfortably overshadowing Matt Holland both defensively and as he sought to get forward into the last third of the pitch.

But as the evening wore on he found it harder to maintain his influence and the Irish pair looked increasingly helpless to prevent their opponents, especially Vassilios Tsartas, providing a succession of through balls for the Greek strikers to chase.

On a couple of occasions Shay Given was obliged to come and clear them up himself. He did it well but then when John O'Shea had tapped a rather harmless looking one back in his direction, the Donegalman was almost caught as the ball hopped just as he was about to hoof it well clear. The Newcastle United goalkeeper made contact, but very little, and to his relief the ball bounced harmlessly wide of the right hand post.

Of those Don Givens called on to seize their opportunity to impress, McPhail, like many of those around him, started brightly before becoming increasingly peripheral.

Richard Dunne, though caught by the speed of the Greek breaks on a couple of occasions, coped well enough and John O'Shea performed fairly solidly alongside Kenny Cunningham, particularly through the second half when the Greeks began to exert a growing amount of pressure around the Irish area.

All, as it happens, did better than that normally most reliable of defenders, Steve Finnan, who played for much of the game as he had done against the Russians. But Given did well, especially in the second half when his command of his area was central to earning the Irish their draw.

The Greeks, however, rarely gave the impression that beating him mattered all that much to them at all. Through the second half they enjoyed comfortably enough possession and chances to go on and win the game and while Given saved well at the feet of Dimitrios Papadopoulos 17 minutes into the second period, the odd piece of determined defending prevented the home side from getting a shot in on target.

The bulk of their chances were simply wasted, though, by profligate strikers who are no more likely to see competitive action in Portugal 18 months from now than their Irish counterparts unless their performances are utterly transformed when the more serious business of the qualifying campaign resumes in the new year.

Hampden Park has been confirmed as the venue for Ireland's next game, against Scotland on February 12th.

GREECE: Nikopolidis; Seitaridis, Dabizas, Kyrgiakos, Fyssas; Giannakopoulos, Basinas, Karagounis, Tsartas; Charisteas, Nikolaidis. Subs: Amanatidis, Goumas, Hiotis, Georgiadis, Papadopolous, Patsatzoglou and Venetidis for Seitaridis, Fyssas, Nikopidis, Dabizas, Tsartas, Nikolaidis and Giannpoulos (all half-time), Kafes and Zagorakis for Basinas and Karagounis (both 61 mins).

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Given (Newcastle United); Finnan (Fulham), Cunningham (Birmingham City), O'Shea (Manchester United), Dunne (Manchester City); Healy (Celtic), Carsley (Everton), Holland (Ipswich Town), McPhail (Leeds United); Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur), Crowe (Bohemians). Subs: Delap (Southampton) for Crowe (86 mins).

Referee: A Trentalange (It).