Fans already checking out the long trip to the finals

Bank managers are set to become soccer fans' new best friends as the football faithful start sorting out their finances for their…

Bank managers are set to become soccer fans' new best friends as the football faithful start sorting out their finances for their next World Cup adventure.

Despite the economic slowdown here and the over-priced pints over there, there is every evidence that a green army of thousands will march on Asia next June.

Mr Robert Sinnott, sales director with Stephen's Green Classic Sports Travel, said a lot of optimistic fans had registered to receive travel details long before yesterday's result was known.

"People are bandying about figures - £5,000 if we're going to Japan. I don't think it will be quite that expensive but the bank manager will be getting phone calls."

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A spokeswoman for Ray Treacy Travel agreed money did not seem to be an issue for fans. Staff there have been fielding calls for weeks, receiving about 20 serious inquiries a day, and they are bracing themselves for a barrage following yesterday's decider.

"We've had a few calls from people who said they already had approval to remortgage their house to pay for the trip." After the relief of yesterday's scoreline, travel agents and fans alike are hoping for one more good result when the World Cup draw takes place in Korea on December 1st.

Japan and Korea are co-hosting the competition but who plays who, and where, is yet to be decided so fans could yet face paying notoriously high Japanese tourist prices.

Korea is also an expensive prospect. "We're hoping to get drawn to play in Korea. It would be a lot cheaper and there's a better accommodation set-up," said Mr Sinnott.

"We'll have staff at the draw on December 1st who will hopefully start working on a package straight away," he added.

"The normal package is to bring them out for the first three qualifying games. Those run from June 1st to 14th next year so people will be out there for about 17 days. Then, should we go further, we would have an option to extend the stay," said Mr Sinnott.

Business from the corporate sector is also looking good, according to both Mr Sinnott and to Ray Treacy Travel. "It's going to be the corporate event of the year and a lot of the bigger companies, especially from the financial sector, won't miss it," according to Mr Sinnott.