Last night could be termed as a necessary nuisance for the Irish team and we can expect more of the same when Andorra travel to Lansdowne Road next month.

They will bring with them absolutely no ambition and Ireland will win convincingly, creating a huge sense of occasion about the visits of Portugal and Holland to Dublin. Therein lies our fate.

It is pointless really in trying to separate last night's performance from the context of the game. Mick McCarthy, Ian Evans and Mick Byrne could have lined out for Ireland last night and it wouldn't have altered the pattern of the match in any way.

Andorra's utter lack of interest in doing anything other than camping behind the ball must have been bewildering for even the most experienced of Ireland's players.

It is understandable that they do it; getting trounced by six or seven goals each time out has to be very dispiriting but such relentlessly negative tactics are miserable to play against.

The key to it lay in stealing an easy goal and that is the one area in which we fell down last night. We didn't convert our early chances and consequently had to work a little bit longer than might have been the case.

Over the course of this away tour, Roy Keane has identified himself as the spiritual leader, the soul of this particular era in Irish soccer history.

Keane's on-field performances have been peerless and rightly highly praised and I can fully understand why he made the off-field comments that he did. If we are to make it to Japan/Korea, we need him performing at the level of magnificence that he has set for himself.

At this stage, it has to be acknowledged that Ireland have played extremely well throughout their group games. There is every reason for optimism but such is the treacherous nature of the qualifying road, I still believe that we could ultimately fall just short. And I know that seems absurdly pessimistic given our form and position.

But I believe Portugal will win the group and the play-offs can, as we have discovered, dispense some rough justice.

There is every reason for measured optimism as we prepare for those two immense games against the Portuguese and the Dutch but you cannot play teams of that quality in the out-right expectancy of winning. And there will be an incredible sense of buoyancy and expectancy around Lansdowne Road for those occasions. They are both formidably difficult tasks.

I worry about certain things as this group enters its critical phase. If Niall Quinn is unable to return to the team - and there has to be an element of reservation there - we lose so much in terms of balance and options.

Robbie Keane struggled a little last night, partly because he has had to think about his game a little in Quinn's absence whereas he flourishes on natural instinct, when he relaxes and just plays. He isn't really used to partnering David Connolly. The introduction of Gary Doherty was the correct decision last night - no reflection on Connolly, but such a packed defence required a target man. But Ireland's short-term hopes do in many ways revolve around a fit Niall Quinn.

Because for all our admirable qualities and the distance this Irish team has travelled under Mick McCarthy, we just lack a little bit of depth and variation as a squad. That the first 11 virtually picks itself is an indication of that. The variety, the choice that existed in the manager's international playing days is not so bountiful now.

And yet we have control of our own destiny in a particularly difficult group. Ireland is a team on a roll, sometimes uneven in execution but willing and, as Roy Keane ceaselessly demonstrates, absolute in conviction.

These are the qualities that Ireland will have to retain in the critical shakedown and against a team of Portugal's calibre, they sometimes aren't enough.

But as of now, these Irish players have done everything that has been asked of them. The severest questions, of course, will be asked, of course, during those fascinating encounters in Lansdowne Road. We have clawed our way back towards the summit so admirably but from here on in, the air gets thinner.

In an interview with Keith Duggan