We waited and circulated our little waterworld jokes about fleets of subs being brought on and the Americans playing Agoos at the back when Aduck was needed and the referee blowing for full tide and so on and so on.American coach Bruce Arena arrived first. No sign of our man from Atlantis.

Mr Arena, a nice, intelligent man wants to talk about his guys. We want Mr Arena to talk about us. Just us. What did he think of us?

"I'm disappointed we didn't walk off the field with a point here tonight," he says. "Give Ireland credit for the second goal. They are a good team, strong physically, two headed goals, strong defenders. Obviously with Roy Keane back they'll have a good midfield and with Duff at front he's a handful."

"How would you compare us with Germany?" he is asked.

He answers without reference to annexations.

"I don't think comparisons like that are valid."

"Well, would you see Ireland doing well against Germany?"

What's your definition of doing well? Drawing?

"I think Germany will surprise a lot of people."

There is a brief diversion. Back to us though. Are we more physical than, oh, let's say, Germany?

"I'm not sure too many teams will be more aggressive than the Germans. As big as the Irish are, the Germans are dominating. I think they'll be a real handful."

Damn Yanks.

Mick McCarthy arrives. He's so hap-hap happy these days that you think something bad must be about to happen. Mick is so happy that he's forgetting to be paranoid about the media.

Anyway, showtime at the bandroom.

"Well," we ask, as if we've just collected him from school, "what did you learn?"

"Colin Healy had a good game, thought he was excellent, stamped his authority on the game. Rory did well. Nothing that I don't really know. Continue to perform to win.

"Lot of changes from start, more at half time. Nice habit. Don't know if I've learned anything. I'll look at the tape. It was a night for application."

Colin Healy causing you a headache?

"Only if he buys me too much beer."

A bad night. What about those conditions, which oddly didn't even merit the attention of a young lad with a pitch fork to drain the puddles?

"We continue the winning run. It was a good game considering the conditions. Supporters deserve a pat on the back for turning up. Both sets of players deserve congratulations for serving decent fare."

It's all good news all the time. Robbie Keane? Better than ever?

"Robbie is getting better and better. He's working the whole back four. He's back to his impudent and cheeky best. He's coming good at a perfect time for himself. We've relied heavily on him. It's nice for him to be coming to the peak of his form now."

Duffer?

"Excellent."

Gary Doherty?

"He's a lovely guy, Gary. As they all are. Very hard when they are left out. Thought his season was over, gets back and, eh, comes along, gets a game, scores the winner.

"The next squad might have Gary in it and not Jason Mac. I can't rule anyone out of the squad. I'd have to say it's unlikely for him that he would make the squad, but not impossible."

So it goes. Good vibes.

The World Cup trip is just a month away. Roy Keane mending as we speak. Options for the squad blossoming every day.

"It was nice to win," concludes Mick. "It's a winning run and it's a good habit to get into. The winning habit is the best of all.

"I have to have some caution about winning friendlies before the World Cup, but credit to players, they come in and they show the right attitude.

"It's hard in friendly games. They have managers back home saying there are bigger games there, lots of negative influences. Thankfully the players here believe in the games and want to win them."

The mood is good and upbeat.

We've won a friendly but against a team which takes friendlies seriously. Nobody injured. Nobody drowned.

Mick leaves, looking like, well, a man who has got all his ducks in a row. We go back to the water jokes.

For the sake of our own dignity it is agreed that nobody will write headlines about Pope scoring over the head of a Saints player.