Ireland v Brazil:"They have improved a lot lately," said Dunga when asked for his thoughts on the Ireland team. Quizzical looks were exchanged; some even wondered if the Brazilian coach thought he was in Belfast, or maybe he was just being polite.

Or perhaps he just agreed with Steve Staunton's assessment of the last couple of years, that progress has, after all, been made.

"Most of the Irish players play in England and that is a sign of their technical quality," he said. "I expect to see several players tomorrow night with a lot of technical skill, which is common in Irish football.

"But also a high level of physicality is common in Europe too, so, yes, we also expect a physical game."

That, then, might have explained why a sizeable chunk of Brazil's 90-minute training session on the Croke Park turf was devoted to set-pieces, time and again Dunga asking his defence to deal with aerial balls whipped in from corners and free-kicks, as if he anticipated the Republic of Ireland fielding a twin attack of Niall Quinn and Tony Cascarino tonight.

There was diplomacy too from Gilberto, Brazil's Arsenal midfielder, when asked how he rated tonight's opposition. He did, though, only mention two Irish players by name, significantly enough the first Richard Dunne, perhaps an indication of the Manchester City captain's growing status in the English game.

"Yes, of course, I know some of the players from England, especially Dunne and Keane. I play against many of them, they are good players.

"The last time we came here it was a difficult game (0-0) and I expect a difficult game again.

"We have many young players in our squad because the coach is planning for the Olympic Games," he said in reference to Dunga's selection of 11 players under the age of 23, including Liverpool's Lucas and the Manchester United midfielder Anderson, two of four English-based players in the squad (Chelsea's Alex is the fourth).

"But we have lots of experience too, so older players like me will try to help the young ones in this game."

As the only fluent English speaker in the squad, Gilberto was a busy man at Croke Park yesterday, agreeing courteously to all requests for an English word, to the point where he must surely have been hoarse.

The arrival of the squad's coach had been greeted in a slightly frenzied fashion by the band of Brazilians waiting at the gates.

"We had to get in more gardaí, big gardaí," a security man confided. "They're mad. Not bad mad, just mad."

Larger still was the band of Brazilian media folk, dozens of them. What must it be like before a World Cup final? Any one would think they were mad about their football. Not bad mad, just mad.

The players emerged for their training session, bedecked in gloves and woolly hats. And with that the heavens opened. Manchester-based Anderson must have felt right at home.

They began with one of those piggy-in-the-middle sessions, the squad showing off their collective first-time touch, drawing purrs from their shivering audience. Even the goalkeepers passed and moved.

Those purrs, though, weren't a patch on the swoons that greeted the arrival in the press room, ahead of Dunga's meeting with the media, of the Eighth King of Rome, as Falcao was dubbed during his time with AS Roma.

Now 54, the former Brazilian midfielder, who scored a majestic goal in the 3-2 defeat by Italy in the 1982 World Cup finals, a game that still brings tears to grown-ups' eyes, is working for Brazilian television this weather.

His appearance at Croke Park yesterday left Irish jaws scraping the press-room floor, but his own media simply threw him a nod.

That lot, we could only conclude, have far too many legends for their own good. Falcao? Huh.

Some time later Dunga entered the room, beaming cheerily. His interpreter briefly looked after the natives, then the Brazilians got stuck in. There followed what sounded like a heavy philosophical exchange - granted, it might just have been a discussion about Julio Baptista's hamstring - and we will remain none the wiser. But it probably was a heavy philosophical exchange. They're Brazilian. They're mad about football. Not bad mad, just mad.