Plenty to take the shiver out of the night in Lansdowne. The Irish came to a pitch freshly ploughed by the rugby dray horses and created a performance of ethereal fluency and adventure on an evening when they would have been excused some diffidence.

Mick McCarthy came to the little huddle of press people afterwards and smiled the low watt smile of a father who has watched much maligned sons finally flourish. His team are identifiable as a group now and the late additions to the family - Robbie Keane and Damien Duff - are blossoming perfectly.

"I was pleased. I was pleased most with the approach of the players and their commitment given the week it's been with the lads not being together - we didn't have a full team till Tuesday. I was pleased with their commitment to training and to their application on the field."

McCarthy is deep into his tenure as manager and the absolutions due to a rookie have run out just as his team have moulded themselves into a unit. He acknowledged the road travelled.

"That team two years ago might have caused us problems. With Steve Staunton out, Ian Harte has come in and we have looked like a solid unit. Tonight I wanted a second goal before I diluted the team but even when I changed it around we were still pressing. We have the team and we have players who can go in and play if they are needed."

McCarthy always has a keen ear for the bitter word, detecting barbed nuance in the most innocent of questions. Somebody asked if the return of two goals was scant given the possession the team enjoyed. Not quite a criticism but . . .

"Why should I be unhappy. If you want that to be the one negative response well then we didn't score too many but 2-0 suits me anytime. If we went to Macedonia and scored two and they scored none I'd be happy. They only had a serious chance at the end when the game had lost its purpose. That didn't please me but Alan Kelly stopped it.

"Damien was suffering a bit from criticisms. I wasn't aware of it but he was. He went to Yugoslavia and he was outstanding over there in a competitive situation where the pressure was on. If you keep doing it, keep playing like that well it dawns on you that you are competent for this level. I was marking down the crosses tonight, how many were successful and how many weren't. He came out on top."

Duff's graph of progress in the space of six games has been upward unlike the jagged returns from McCarthy's two troubled centre halves Gary Breen and Phil Babb, both of whom are still duelling for the right to partner Kenny Cunningham. Last night's evidence suggested that Breen is shading things and a small adjustment to the set up may have accommodated him.

"I asked Gary Breen to play on the right side in the centre half pairing. It's a small thing but I think he's better there and as an old centre half myself. I know these things make a difference. Tonight was an opportunity for him to play in the slot. Kenny Cunningham is in there without question. Everyone asks is it Phil or Gary with him. Tonight Gary had the chance to stake his claim. I thought he played well."

And for Paraguay. No assessment of Ireland's fluency is complete without acknowledging the stiff-limbed inexperience of the visitors. It was 40 warmer in Paraguay when they left and at times last night they looked as if they were hankering for a belt of South American sunshine.

"We have a young team," said Ever Almeida, by way of smiling apology for failing to reproduce the gallant defending which made Paraguay such a novelty during the World Cup.

"And that was our first game," he added. We are playing with all home-based players and right now the objective is to get six or seven players from this group and integrate them with six or seven internationals we already have."

Paraguay are at the sort of place where Ireland were a couple of years back. Almeida recognised that his opponents had been down the road before him.

"Ireland? I very much liked Ireland. I had the idea that they have been playing together as a team for some time. I thought they played like a unit."

"Really," said Mick McCarthy later when Almeida's comment was relayed to him. "High praise indeed. I think I could hire him as my PRO."

After Skopje Mick, after Skopje.