Georges Leekens has had a good week. He has played the media like a maestro. Here the harlequin, there the simple football man. He blew into town waving four-leafed clovers at us, and keeping his fingers crossed and not walking under ladders and begging us not to be too hard on him. We lapped it up.

Tonight he sweeps into the upstairs press area in Lansdowne Road, in his bespoke suit and shoes, and issues his thoughts to us in two languages. We sort of knew from the first glimpse of him on the sideline last night in his long mac and bright yellow scarf that this guy is an unflappable, incorrigible operator. He stands before us now grinning.

"I said we would come here and attack and score. Now do you believe me?"

We stood around and gaped at him.

"I think the public enjoyed our game. There were no weaknesses in this Belgian side tonight. Not like when we played some of our earlier games, like against Turkey. We came here with a side that could win the game.

"They got an early goal in good circumstances. An early goal is good because it is not easy to come here and play. It is a difficult place to play in but we did well. We knew that Cascarino could score a goal if we left him for a second so we concentrated on marking their players and working hard."

Leekens was clearly pleased with the way his side had performed under the huge pressures of last night's game.

"Everybody played as I wanted them to," he said. "That doesn't always happen, but we were disciplined and played some good attacking football."

Leekens mixed some caution into his satisfaction but his demeanour seemed to bear out Mick McCarthy's point that last night was as good as the Belgians get. Scant consolation but the basis for hope.

"We're not there yet, however," said Leekens. "And we know that Ireland often play better away from home than they do here in Dublin. They qualified the last two times away from Dublin.

"Tonight, though, was the best we've played under me. We came here to score goals. We got one and could have got some more, and I thought it was a superb performance."

He looks forward now to a big night on home turf on November 15th on an evening when he will have some of his bigger stars back on the stage. He has a right to wear a smile as broad as this but he is back to his spin doctoring. Talking up the Irish.

"Their goalkeeper did very well in the Irish goal. With that early save from Nilis's header he made a difference. He stopped Goossens getting a second goal as well. Against Ireland you never know what might be coming. Cascarino will always be a danger. The Irish will always go for it.

"We haven't won the tie yet but let's just say I fly back to Brussels a happy man."

With that he was gone. Cool customer. Happy man. Georges Leekens.