Spare a thought for the Dutch this evening as Ireland's game against Cyprus moves into its last 15 minutes. Right around then, Louis van Gaal's side will kick off against Andorra at the Gelredome in Arnhem, and the normally exuberant Oranje support will doubtless breathe a deep sigh and wonder to each other quite how it all went so badly wrong.

By then, they'll have a fair idea whether the miracle that Mick McCarthy's side requires if they are to qualify automatically for next summer's World Cup finals is shaping up. As they wake this morning, though, the 5,000 or so who witnessed their astonishing defeat in Dublin first hand last month probably reckon it's nothing short of inevitable.

As McCarthy named his starting line up at lunchtime yesterday, he again made it clear that he's no great believer in fairy stories. Over the past 13 months he and his players have achieved what not even many of them could have expected to. Now, he acknowledges, it is all but certain that the successful completion of this unforgettable qualification campaign will rest on whether they can maintain their tremendous run of form in what promises, in more ways than one, to be a difficult play-off encounter.

Today, though, there should be no shortage of motivation for his players. A strong performance against a badly depleted Cypriot side would maintain the momentum that this Irish team began to build in the wake of its last defeat, by Scotland some 17 months and 15 matches ago. A genuinely convincing win would enhance Lansdowne Road's restored reputation as a stronghold for the Irish teams, an important factor ahead of the play-offs, while even a draw would maintain McCarthy's own remarkable record of never having lost a competitive match as a manager there.

A victory, though, is what McCarthy will expect from his team, even if the one selected has been shaped to some extent by his determination to have everyone available for the anticipated visit next month of Asian opposition.

The return from injury of Gary Breen and Mark Kennedy made life easier for McCarthy as he weighed up his options, while the form of Steve Finnan and David Connolly, who get first and rare competitive starts respectively, since the start of the season has demonstrated their ability to cope with a game like today's.

None of the four will need to be reminded of the opportunity to impress that they are being offered this evening, although it says a huge amount about the way in which this squad has developed during the past year or two that, having outplayed Patrick Kluivert so supremely last time out, another of this evening's starters, Matt Holland, still appears to owe his place to the yellow card that Mark Kinsella picked up against Andorra back in April.

Ireland did not play well that month in Nicosia and were flattered both by the four goals they scored and by the clean sheet they kept. At home, with two natural wingers, little pressure and strikers who are currently in strong form, it hardly seems unreasonable to think that a similar scoreline might be achieved less haphazardly.

Certainly McCarthy has ample faith in his strikers to deliver, observing yesterday that, "it's terrific, they're all scoring and it's understandable that (of the players left out) Robbie's particularly disappointed because he's done so well in the last while".

In the younger Keane's absence, Connolly will get another chance to show that he can reproduce his ability to score goals consistently at club level on the international stage.

McCarthy describes it as "a great opportunity", for the Wimbledon player, but even he will probably concede that it will be Connolly's striking partner today that the great majority of the 35,000 strong crowd will be hoping finds the net.

Niall Quinn scored his 20th international goal against South Africa in June of last year, when he equalled Frank Stapleton's national record. He had six opportunities to add to the total since, but given his current form and the opposition it is hard to imagine the big Dubliner, who turns 35 today, having a better chance to make the record his own.

That, you feel, would be fairytale enough an ending to this group campaign for the home support at Lansdowne Road this evening.

The sense of celebration would, of course, be spoiled somewhat were the Cypriots to get a result of some sort today, but if they do it would be a quite phenomenal achievement for Christos Charalambous and his young squad.

Cheered on by a quite a few Irish in Larnaca last month, the home side did terrifically well for the first half of their game against Portugal. Indeed, had they sustained the performance through the second half then there would have been little talk of travelling to Asia within the Irish camp.

But Michael Constantinou, probably the country's leading player and a strong performer against Ireland in March, is just one of six starters from that match who has not made the journey to Dublin because of injury or suspension. And Charalambous says that the youngsters he has brought in their absence will benefit from the experience.

But Ireland have saved their best for the bigger occasions over the past 12 months, so a comfortable rather than crushing victory should be on the cards, after which the play-offs almost certainly await once again.

IRELAND: Given (Newcastle United); Finnan (Fulham), Breen (Coventry City), Staunton (Aston Villa), Harte (Leeds United); Kennedy (Wolves), Keane (Manchester United), Holland (Ipswich Town), Kilbane (Sunderland); Connolly (Wimbledon), Quinn (Sunderland).