SOCCER/International friendly/Republic of Ireland 1 Portugal 0: There will be tougher tests for Brian Kerr's men in the autumn when France and Switzerland come to Dublin.
On the very biggest nights this Irish team still remains unproven, but after Andy O'Brien's first goal for his country earned them a narrow but deserved win over last year's European Championship runners-up, there can be little faulting their displays in the dress rehearsals.
The Portuguese are the fifth of the world's top 10 teams to take on the Republic in the last 12 months and none has managed a win. For spells, at least, Luiz Felipe Scolari's side looked more intent than some of their predecessors on breaking the Republic's run, but for most of the game they were second best to a team that defended well, moved the ball through midfield to good effect and attacked with both panache and purpose.
More clinical finishing and the scoreline might have been more convincing.
O'Brien's goal afer 21 minutes will win few beauty contests but it was still solid enough stuff. John O'Shea beat Caneira to Andy Reid's corner from the right and got a flick on which the Newcastle defender did well to meet ahead of Paulo Ferrira and turn into the bottom right corner.
There might have been others, with Robbie Keane, Andy Reid and Clinton Morrison all threatening early on. And Damien Duff gradually emerged as the visiting back four's most persistent problem until his departure to a rousing ovation 20 minutes from time.
By this stage it was clear Portugal were not setting about their task with quite the vigour they had displayed on home turf last summer. But they nevertheless provided some evidence through the opening half of the quality within the team.
Petit was the better of their central midfielders, while Deco poked and prodded at the Irish from just in front of the central defence and Cristiano Ronaldo sought to peel the home side open out wide on the flank.
For quite some time the Manchester United winger's most notable involvement was an early tangle with Duff, and when he later produced a clever flick to take the ball out of the Dubliner's path as he attempted to challenge there was a suspicion he was looking to upstage the local favourite. Some chance.
Duff marked his 50th senior appearance in just the way he did most of those between numbers 20 and 49, by tormenting his markers and repeatedly opening up Scolari's defence with a combination of his running and exquisitely judged balls into Ricardo's area.
As he switched from side to side the 25-year-old made the most of the couple of chances that came his way to torment his Chelsea team-mate, Ferreira, as their club manager, Jose Mourinho, looked on.
Ferreira and the equally seasoned Jorge Andrade coped well enough, however, with the efforts of Duff, Reid and Clinton Morrison to create openings around the penalty box. Rogerio Matias and Caneira, at left back and centre half respectively, seemed less equipped.
Both Irish wingers gave Matias, in particular, a tough night, with Duff managing at times to make Ronaldo's bag of tricks seem like the throwaway stuff you give to young kids to fool with.
Three times in the first half the inability of the 30-year-old Vitoria at full back to stem the supply of crosses from the Irish right almost led to goals for the home team.
It didn't get any better for him in the second period. First Duff skipped down the right side of the box before floating a cross to the far post where Caneira surprisingly headed it back into the path of Keane, only for the striker to swipe at a chance he clearly hadn't been expecting.
Reid then squeezed outside him 30 metres out, only to send a weak shot wide of the right hand post.
It culd have been worse, though, for Costa almost capped a rough night with an own goal 16 mintes from time when, under pressure from Keane, he sent the ball flying off his post from 10 yards out.
By then the locals had eased up, with Kevin Kilbane having departed, Matt Holland looking more subdued and neither full back showing the same inclination to get forward.
Portugal, meanwhile, were displaying a growing determination to avoid a first defeat since the Greeks silenced the Stadium of Light and the city that surrounds it back in July of last year.
With the home side's fluidity disrupted, perhaps by changes to the team, the Portuguese profited as their hosts found it harder to string together the sort of long passing movements that had characterised their first-half display.
The Irish back four, with Richard Dunne having replaced Kenny Cunningham, were now kept busy and Hugo Viano went closest to grabbing the goal required by the visitors to salvage a draw with a couple of medium-range efforts in the last 10 minutes. The first flew wide after clipping O'Brien while the second drew Shay Given's best save of the night though it appeared to find the net. As it finally rolled clear of the goal the relief of 44,100 strong crowd was obvious.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Given (Newcastle United); Finnan (Liverpool), O'Brien (Newcastle United), Cunningham (Birmingham City), O'Shea (Manchester United); Reid (Tottenham Hotspur), Holland (Charlton Athletic), Kilbane (Everton), Duff (Chelsea); Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Morrison (Birmingham City). Subs: Kavanagh (Cardiff City) for Kilbane (half-time), Dunne (Manchester City) for Cunninham (60 mins), Miller for Duff (69 mins), McGeady (Celtic) for Keane 83 mins).
PORTUGAL: Ricardo (Sporting Lisbon); Ferreira (Chelsea), Caneira (Valencia), Jorge Andrade (Deportivo La Coruna), Matias (Vitoria); Petit (Benfica), Tiago (Chelsea); Ronaldo (Manchester United), Deco (Barcelona), Simao (Benfica); Pauleta (PSG). Subs: Hugo Viana (Sportig Lisbon) for Ferreira, Nuno Gomes (Benfica) for Pauleta, Meira (VfB Stuttgart) for Tiago, Costa (Porto) for Deco (all half-time); Boa Morte (Fulham) for Simao (61 mins), Fernandes (Benfica) for Ronaldo (70 mins).
Referee: M Messias (England).
