Only a friendly but it still hurts

Players' quotes: So just who exactly invited the Nigerians to the going away party? And could they at least have been told to keep the noise down.No bother. We got our minor dose of World Cup fever last night and the result was never going to mean a thing anyway. Who the hell cares who actually won? Just don't say that to the players. Their thoughts may be on the East now but none of them wanted to walk out on the losing side, especially at home.

"Yeah, we're very disappointed not to get the result, especially at home," says Jason McAteer. "But you know we had Niall Quinn's game on Tuesday and that was an emotional night. We just got back and the preparation wasn't quite right, but that's not making excuses.

"But I still thought we could have won it, because we pressed them hard and showed great character. We got the goal back, and another five minutes might have seen us get an equaliser."

Perhaps then it was a slightly harder game than anticipated, especially as none of the Irish guys wanted to risk injury.

"Well we weren't going to throw ourselves into stupid tackles, and it was important that everyone came out unscathed. But it's still very disappointing to lose the game.

"Another night it may have been a different story, but their squad isn't picked yet and some of those players are still looking for places, and trying to impress. I felt we were the better team on the night."

All thoughts then to next month, and for McAteer that means going through it all again. "Remember though, I jumped on the back end of the last one, and didn't really know what it was all about. I enjoyed it immensely but this time I'm older, and it means a lot more to me having been through the qualifiers."

And now he has Stephen Reid for company too. "Well he got my number too from 1994. But he's a good lad, and he's just got the phone call of a lifetime."

There aren't many smiles either from Stephen Staunton, even though he'd just been named man of the match. "Well were disappointed to lose the game," he says, "cause I think we created enough chances to win the game.

"It was a good test, and it showed how good these African sides are. We knew we can do better, but it was important for us to finish on a good note playing-wise and I think we did that.

"We gave away a sloppy second goal, but we'd rather score out in Japan than here tonight. The most important game is the first of June."

What about that send-off though, 42-odd thousand smiles? "Well we expected nothing less. It's been building up now for the last couple of months, but the fans deserve this as much as we do."

Kenny Cunningham adds to the mixed emotions: "It was a good game, but we knew we were up against a very good side. It was still an excellent friendly for us, and very good preparation for the game against Cameroon. They were quick and strong, and that was a very useful exercise for us.

"We created plenty of good opportunities, but we just couldn't convert them into goals."

And what about his views on Reid? "A great athlete, with great pace. And it was a real plus to see him in such form. Now we can all enjoy the next two weeks, cause it's all part of experience. But we are looking forward too to getting to the base, and then the real countdown to the first game will start."