SOCCER/Germany v Rep of Ireland: The sense of history surrounding the Republic of Ireland's return to Stuttgart for the first time since the win over England 18 years ago, Shay Given admitted yesterday, has been impossible to ignore since he and the rest of the squad touched down here on Thursday night.

Surprisingly, the Donegalman doesn't actually remember the game but is familiar with the legend of an encounter decided by Ray Houghton's goal.

He knows too if tonight's game at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium is to be fondly remembered in the years ahead the current team will have to achieve a feat as unlikely as the win secured by Jack Charlton's men in 1988.

If Steve Staunton's men are to escape with anything better than an efficient lesson in how to kick off a qualification campaign, Given is likely to be a key player. But as he considered the prospect of facing a side that beat Portugal in the same ground to take third in the recent World Cup, the 30-year-old seemed relaxed.

"I don't mind how busy I am," he laughed when it was put him he might have his work cut to keep the Irish in the game, "as long as we get the result we came here looking for."

Though there has been talk of playing to win from Staunton, everybody in the camp admits a draw would represent a significant achievement. And even a solid performance coupled with a narrow defeat would be seen as progress after last month's thumping by the Dutch when Ireland gave the lie to that old adage about there not being any such thing as an easy international.

Staunton took the criticism that followed that game well but there were signs yesterday he has been irritated by the coverage he has received since suggesting at the pre-match press conference the press didn't want the team to win. It's a little early in his career for that sort of nonsense.

What everyone, not just the media, would like to see this evening is evidence of the qualities the FAI apparently identified in Staunton when appointing him at the start of the year. His performances at top tables in hotel function rooms hardly merit a six-figure salary but if he really can inspire a team of decidedly mixed abilities to become more than the sum of their parts his PR shortcomings will be forgiven.

Tonight's game is a particularly severe test so early in his career. But despite minor knocks that prevented Clinton Morrison training and limited Kevin Doyle's involvement in the session he does at least have all his best players to choose from. And so we should get an indication of how effectively he can deploy them.

His team selection will be interesting for there has been much speculation and some suggestion in training that Aiden McGeady will start on the right side of midfield, with Stephen Carr behind him and Steve Finnan at left back.

It would be bold stuff from a managerial novice against a side of enormous strength and attacking prowess across midfield. But while the options may not be hugely inspiring it would also surely be a little reckless. McGeady should certainly help create the attacking threat Staunton seeks but his inclusion may leave the Irish particularly vulnerable down that flank, given Carr did not perform well against the Dutch.

The visiting team's greater difficulties, however, may lie in the centre, where much will depend on the ability of John O'Shea and Steven Reid to rise to the challenge of containing Michael Ballack and Torsten Frings. Though the Germans make good use of their wide men, it is their central-midfield partnership that is key to how they perform.

How it will all work out remains to be seen and there seem few grounds for optimism aside from Staunton's own rather grim observation yesterday that football "is a funny game".

Irish sides have had a knack of grabbing something from situations like this, however, and if the fans have any cause to celebrate in Stuttgart again this evening then the team's new manager will surely head for home as the biggest winner of all.

PROBABLE TEAMS

GERMANY: Lehmann (Arsenal); Lahm (Bayern Munich), M Friedrich (Mainz), A Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Jansen (Borussia Monchengladbach); Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen), Ballack (Chelsea), Frings (Werder Bremen), Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich); Klose (Werder Bremen), Podolski (Bayern Munich).

IRELAND: Given (Newcastle United); Carr (Newcastle United), O'Brien (Portsmouth), Dunne (Manchester City), Finnan (Liverpool); McGeady (Celtic), Reid (Blackburn Rovers), O'Shea (Manchester United), Duff (Newcastle United); Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Doyle (Reading).

Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain)