Four months after he agreed a new contract intended to keep him in the job until the next European Championships, and less than a month after the row with Roy Keane that fuelled speculation that he would depart, Mick McCarthy yesterday reiterated his intention to stick around for at least the next couple of years.

His declaration of loyalty will be greeted with surprise by many, for even some of his senior players had privately expressed the belief that the 43-year-old would opt for a return to club football where the financial rewards would be considerably greater than those currently available to him working for the FAI.

But, even in the wake of a World Cup campaign that will have considerably improved his marketability amongst British clubs, McCarthy insists he wants to continue working with a squad he has spent the last six years developing until the finals of the next European Championships and possibly beyond.

"I want to go to Portugal," he said at a relaxed final press conference of this campaign yesterday. "Within the next two weeks if at all possible," he added with a grin.

"I think we have a good chance of being successful in this qualifying group and I'd like to be there for that. But I've been quoted before as saying that if we don't make it to the finals then I won't be around.

"Football's a very fickle business," he continued, "and I know that if we hadn't drawn against the Cameroon then people would have looked at me very differently. My backside would have been in the bacon-slicer, there's no question about that.

"Even now, my slate's wiped clean when we go to Moscow so if things don't go well then the pressure will be back on very quickly because what's been achieved here won't count for anything."

Senior officials admit that McCarthy was far less positive about his future in the job during the build up to the Cameroon game which McCarthy described last week as having been the biggest of his career.

"Things improved, though, as he came to believe that the association, players and supporters were genuinely behind him," said one senior official this week.

The association, however, has denied reports that his new contract remained unsigned at that stage with some reports claiming that McCarthy only put pen to paper on Saturday evening in Seoul.

"We agreed the outline of the deal back in February after which there was a process of putting certain things in place to be completed before the actual contract could be signed.

"It was completed before we travelled to the World Cup, though, and the new contract predates us having left Dublin," said a spokesman for the organisation.

Regardless of when the deal was signed, McCarthy's change of heart since the difficult days in Izumo may yet spell the end of Roy Keane's international career.

The two men's mutual antipathy was well known long before their fall out in Saipan, where Keane had already strongly hinted that he would retire from the international game after the World Cup unless there was a change of manager.

With the Corkman having since declined to apologise for the outburst that resulted in his expulsion from the squad, the divisions between the two men have deepened considerably and, when asked about the possibility of Keane returning yesterday, McCarthy observed with a distinct coolness that, "he had the chance to play at this World Cup and he chose not to, it's something I'll consider when I get home".

For the time being, McCarthy, understandably enough, prefers to dwell on the more positive aspects of the past few weeks.

He said that after the end of the Spain game he had spoken to his players both collectively and individually, thanking them for their contribution over what have been a tougher five weeks than he had ever anticipated.

"It has been much harder than I expected," he admitted, "but it's been a privilege to work with such a great bunch of players. It's a long time to be together, but every one of them has been great.

"We still believe that we were the better team against the Spanish and we're desperately disappointed to be going home, but we'll take a lot away from this.

"We now have a group of players, lads like Shay Given, Robbie (Keane) and Damien (Duff) who are still young, but have played 30 or more caps. All of them now have played in a World Cup and that will stand to them.

"And I suppose that somewhere down the line all of this will make me a better manager, maybe even a better person."

A few of the players, the ones who had missed the penalties had been "inconsolable" afterwards and he expressed regret at the inevitable fact that they will remember their time at these finals primarily in terms of the spot kicks they missed in Suwon on Sunday.

"They don't deserve that," he said.

"Not any of them. Frankly, I'm amazed that David Connolly missed when you see some of the goals he's been scoring in training over the past week or so, he's been absolutely buzzing, but it doesn't matter.

"None of them deserves to go home with that hanging over them, not after the contribution that they've made, not just in the last few weeks but also in helping to get us here during the past couple of years.

"They all deserve a huge amount of credit for that and they should be proud.

"I know I'm proud of them."