The hosts were as plucky as ever, but from the time "World champs for Windsor" made the back pages of the Belfast papers the word "stroll" was always a hot favourite for use in the opening paragraphs of match reports.
On the night, Roger Lemerre's side may not always have looked too pushed whether they won or lost, and in the end "stroll" might be fractionally overstating it. However the win was well deserved and the only disappointment was the lack of goals produced the star-studded visiting cast.
The local supporters clearly suspected that the game would be a subdued affair, for even the presence of most of the team that lifted the World Cup last summer in Paris wasn't enough to fill Windsor Park. The 11,804 who did turn up got a decent game, by the standards of international friendlies, but one which served largely to underline the difference in class between the two sides.
By the final whistle, the Irish had had two very good chances to get the goal that would have produced one of those remarkable results that they pull off against far better opposition from time to time. But the French should, for starters, have had a penalty in each half, while it was hard not to conclude that much of their attacking play was restrained due to Lemerre's much publicised desire to avoid injuries ahead of next month's vital European qualifier in the Ukraine.
"That we did not pick up any injuries is certainly important," said the French coach afterwards. "But there was more than that for us to happy about in this game, I think. The Irish are a strong, physical side and perhaps they woke up one or two of my players this evening, but we coped with their style of play, which is good, and psychologically it is good that, after losing to the Russians, we have come away and won a game."
That Lilian Laslandes, the Bordeaux striker who was one of the outstanding players on the French domestic scene last season, scored on his return to the national team after an eight-match absence must have satisfied the team manager as well. There is always room for a regular scorer in the French side and this goal, which required a bit of neat footwork to get the close-range shot in after Lilian Thuram had been gifted the ball out on the right, makes his record two in four appearances.
His side, though, had started the game as if they were still on their summer holidays which, of course, quite a few of them still are. At the heart of the defence Laurent Blanc looked especially relaxed. And while the French skipper could be forgiven for not having expected the most punishing of run-outs, he was almost a little too laid back for his own good during opening period when a couple of the Irish strikers endeavoured to make up for their various limitations by showing a greater willingness than their visitors to break into a sweat.
A slip-up by Bixente Lizarazu gave Jon McCarthy a fine shooting opportunity from just few yards out but he drove against the post. And but for the front-runners starting a couple of their runs a moment too early, Fabien Barthez might well have been called into the action at least twice in the first half.
The unpredictability of Barthez, of course, should have been enough by itself to prevent the French winning the World Cup. But having just about the best back four in the game makes up for a lot and, as Michael Hughes, Iain Dowie and Peter Kennedy ran out of steam Blanc and co ensured that the Monaco goalkeeper had precious little to do.
He did manage to play them into trouble more than once, though, and midway through the second period a clumsy attempt to get the ball upfield quickly after a corner crashed off one of his defenders ran straight to Kennedy, who had just taken the corner and who promptly went very close to chipping the ball into the net.
In the dying seconds, McCarthy had an even better chance, but again the attempted chip was overhit, this time to the obvious disgust of Keith Gillespie who was alongside the Birmingham City midfielder and clearly felt himself to be better qualified to have the crack at goal.
"He scored at the weekend," sighed Lawrie McMenemy afterwards "and it must have gone to his head. It's a terrible shame because we've had our opportunities out there tonight."
McMenemy went on to describe the result as a "moral draw" for his team and the combination of this defeat and the 3-1 victory recorded by the Northern Irish under-21s the previous night as "a very good week's work for us".
With the prospect of qualification for the European Championships now overshadowed by that of finishing last in Group Three, there'll have to be some even better weeks for his side when they take on Turkey, Germany and Finland over the coming weeks.
Northern Ireland: Taylor (Wright 46), A Hughes, Williams, Hunter, Horlock, McCarthy, Lennon, Lomas, Kennedy (Gillespie 73), Dowie (Quinn 55), M Hughes. Subs Not Used: Nolan, Jenkins, Morrow, Whitley, Rowland. FRANCE: Barthez, Thuram, Blanc, Desailly (Leboeuf 65), Lizarazu (Candela 55), Boghossian, Vieira (Dehu 83), Micoud, Pires, Laslandes (Vairelles 76), Wiltord (Robert 55). Subs Not Used: Rame, Deschamps. Goals: Laslandes 67. Attendance: 11,804 Referee: W Young (Scotland).
