PACKIE BONNER is to have an opportunity of erasing one of the few blots on a fine international record when the Republic of Ireland meet Mexico in their second game in the US Cup in the Giants Stadium, New Jersey, tonight.

Bonner will win his 79th cap and, almost certainly, his last when Mick McCarthy delivers his team sheet to the tournament organisers this morning.

And that puts him on course for a return meeting with the brilliant Mexican Luis Garcia whose two long-range shots consigned Ireland to a painful defeat in the World Cup in Orlando two years ago.

It means that fellow Donegal man Shay Given will sit on the bench but Bonner, a name synonymous with the golden years of Irish football, is under no illusions about his selection in the side.

I'm only in because Mick decided at the start of the tour that every player in the party, would be given an opportunity of starting a game," he said.

"Realistically, I'm never going to get another Ireland start and I intend to make the most of it. The fact that it's in the Giants Stadium and that I will again be meeting up with Luis Garcia makes it special still."

The atmosphere in the stadium will not be the same as when we beat Italy there in the World Cup - it simply couldn't be - but I imagine that there will still be a lot of Irish supporters at the game.

"It's a nice place to take my leave as a player but hopefully, I'm still going to have involvement in the squad, coaching the two goalkeepers, Shay Given and Alan Kelly.

"Watching Shay develop has given me a great buzz and when [Alan gets fit again, we'll have two of the best goalkeepers around. From my point of view, it will be a privilege if I get the chance of working with them".

Bonner, far and away the senior of a young squad after celebrating his 36th birthday last [month, has occasionally experienced the realities of the generation gap since the start of this tour.

"Yes, it's true that I have fended to be in the company of the management team rather than the players out here but that's due in part, to the fact that when the travel party was first announced, I was named as one of the coaches.

Bonner's last competitive game for Celtic was in the 1995 Scottish Cup final against Airdrie and was a further seven months back that he last played for Ireland - the European Championship game against Liechtenstein in Dublin.

It's not a particularly reassuring background from which to approach tonight's game for the man who has served four different national team managers, but McCarthy, who soldiered with him for some eight years in the Irish squad, has no doubts that he can contribute significantly to the team effort.

Packie's a lad who has always looked after himself in training and watching his play in the practice games since we came to America, you'd never guess that he has been missing from competitive football for so long," he said.

The manager declined to speculate on the remainder of his team, pending this morning's training session at a college complex, some 10 miles from the team's base at Morristown, New Jersey, but he confirmed that it will be another "youngish team".

The challenge of achieving his first win in seven games in charge of the team is still a powerful motivator but in line with his stated policy of ringing the changes in the cause of assessing the younger players in the squad, he will rebuild the side which lost 2-1 to the United States in Foxboro Stadium last Sunday.

That is likely to mean a place in the starting line-up for the Millwall winger Dave Savage whose appearances to date have been restricted to substitutions and possibly, Keith O'Neill of Norwich City as front line replacement for David Connolly.

The pivotal roles in midfield are again likely to be assigned to Alan McLoughlin and Liam O'Brien who, between them, have provided much of the stabilising influence in the team in recent weeks. Gary Breen may be offered another opportunity of illustrating his rate of progress in defence.

Much of the organisation for this tournament has been sketchy, not least in the dissemination of team news, but the likelihood is that Jorge Campos and Luis Garcia will be used as two of the over-aged players in what is essentially, Mexico's under-23 Olympic team.

That ought not obscure the fact, however, that they are still a formidable side as they proved when beating Bolivia with a typical Garcia strike in their opening game in Dallas last Saturday.

Two days earlier McCarthy had watched Campos play for Los Angeles against Boston's New England Revolution team in the American League in Foxboro Stadium and the unmistakable message was that goals will have to be earned the hard way against the small but flamboyant goalkeeper.

A crowd of 35,000 is expected for a game which if lacking the excitement of the World Cup tie in Florida, can still prove valuable for McCarthy in the final stages of his preparations for his first competitive assignment in Liechtenstein in August.