WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Ireland v Ivory Coast: Most of them speak like footballing veterans, so it's easy enough to forget this is an under-20 Irish squad.
You're occasionally reminded of their youth, though, in fairly stark terms, not least when Graham Ward vaguely, very vaguely, recalls the night Alan McLoughlin's goal at Windsor Park qualified the Republic of Ireland for the 1994 World Cup.
And no wonder the memory is vague: Ward was 10 at the time. (Worse, he was five when Ireland played in Euro '88.)
The Windsor Park "night" was recalled yesterday because, it was incorrectly assumed, Ward, who joined Kidderminster after being released by Wolves last summer, had had a "Tony Cascarino" moment when Gerry Smith told him he was coming on as a substitute against Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
As soon as he got the signal the midfielder disappeared in to the dressing-rooms. Had he, like Cascarino in Belfast, forgotten to put on his jersey under his tracksuit?
"Ah no," he said, "I had to go to the toilet - I was absolutely bursting, I must have drunk four bottles of water just sitting on the bench. Seriously. If you have to go, you have to go, you know yourself."
Ward's arrival on the pitch, as a replacement for Glen Whelan, was, then, momentarily delayed, but he still had time to make enough of an impression - including supplying the cross, eight minutes after his introduction, that created Stephen Elliott's 77th minute winner - to earn the praise of his manager.
"He was inspired when he came on," said Smith, "started getting in a few tackles that we weren't getting in, consolidated midfield for us, let the other two (Darren Potter and David Bell) get about their business."
Had he, though, done enough to regain his place in the starting line-up for today's game against the Ivory Coast (1.45 Irish time)?
"I haven't a clue," said the Bray native, "Gerry doesn't give anything away, so we just don't know whether we're in or not. If I play I play, if I don't I don't, I'm not going to moan about it, I'm just glad to be here, a lot of lads were left behind.
"I was gutted not to start, but the manager picks the team and that's it, what can you do? When I got on I either wanted to score or make a chance or a tackle or block a goal, or something, anything, just wanted to make an impression. I think I did alright."
While Smith may be tempted to stick with the 11 that started against Saudi Arabia, he admitted yesterday that he may also "freshen things up", but hadn't yet settled on his line-up for the Ivory Coast game.
Ward is one option for freshening up the starting line-up, forward Eamon Zayed, who also made an impression as a substitute on Saturday, is another, although Jonathan's Daly's height could yet help him retain his place alongside Elliott up front.
"They're a strong team all around," said Smith of the Ivory Coast, 2-1 winners over Mexico on Saturday. "But I'm not going to be dressing them up to be anything more than they are, I'm not going to pass my life away worrying about the opposition, we've a good team too. The prize in this game is huge, three points and you're in the second round."
The Ivory Coast, pacy and powerful, half of whose squad play in Europe - including forwards Antonin Koutouan (Lorient in France) and Arouna Kone (Roda Kerkrade in Holland) - were impressive against Mexico, taking a 2-0 lead midway through the first half, although they faded in the final 15 minutes, conceding a goal and very nearly conceding a second.
"When the previous manager was in charge his tactics were incredibly gung-ho, bordering on crazy," said their coach Mama Ouattara, "yet he was criticised back home for being too defensive. We are offence-minded and that's why my side is so attacking."
Ireland be warned.
Elliott and Daly, the two injury concerns after Saturday's game, have been cleared for selection. Elliott had a scan in a local hospital yesterday on a sore right foot which indicated a mild inflammation of a tendon or a tweaked nerve, according to team doctor Ronan O'Callaghan, while a blister on the big toe of Daly's right foot has also cleared.
Brian Kerr, meanwhile, left for Abu Dhabi yesterday to watch Slovakia's game against Burkina Faso, "for his sins", as Smith put it. "You have to look at all the permutations, you don't know who you might meet if you make it through to the second round.
"Having Brian here and being able to ask him things about certain individuals has been a big help," said Smith. "He's there when we need him, if we have a question we'll get an answer - if we don't have a question then we don't ask. But it's a help to have him there."
"Everybody's kind of in awe of him now, senior manager, all that," said Ward of Kerr's presence in the camp. "We were all with him four, five years, you don't really think of him as senior manager, you just think of him as your manager, it's a bit weird.
"But Brian kind of keeps himself away from it, he lets Gerry and John (McDonnell, assistant manager) sort out the team. But I'm not there in the meetings - he must have an input, he's seen and done it all before and he knows all the players inside out, he has to have a say in it."
Meanwhile, Ireland missed the two-hour post-match deadline to submit an appeal against Kevin Doyle's booking against Saudi Arabia on Saturday, a yellow card for a "dive" that, the replays confirmed, bordered on the ludicrous.
That misfortune, though, pales next to the problems in the Saudi camp, which has lost the services of goalkeeper Assaf Al Qarni, probably for the rest of the tournament, after he returned home to Riyadh following the death of his brother.
Saudi Arabia play Mexico today (4.30 Irish time), with defeat for either team putting a sizeable dent in their hopes of reaching the second round.
"I hope we can win and come back to the competition. The Saudis are a good team, but we are better than both the Saudi and the Irish squads," said Mexican coach Eduardo Rergis, who had vowed before the tournament that his team would not only win its group, but also the World Youth Cup.
Mexican team psychologist Parma Aragon has been busy sticking pictures of the players on the walls of the squad's hotel corridor - at two o'clock in the morning - accompanied by captions like "Tu actitud hace la differencia" ("Your attitude makes the difference") and "Este es tu momento, este es tu mundial" ("It is your moment, it is your World Championship").
No need for such psychology on another floor of the Intercontinental Hotel, as the Irish squad's minds are clear enough: a win today against the Ivory Coast and the second round of the World Youth Cup beckons.
