A CAMEO on the forecourt of the Damai Lagoon hotel about 20 miles outside Kuching said it all about the improbable plot of the World Youths Championship.

The coach taking the Republic of Ireland players back from training for today's semi-final against Argentina had to back up while a mini traffic jam was being sorted out.

And it ended only after the last of the playing gear of the Brazilian team had been loaded on to another coach and the South Americans were on their way to a premature homeward journey.

"Mark that down as a bit of history," said Dr Conal Hooper, the Irish medical officer. "The day Ireland outstayed Brazil at a major tournament."

The squad, containing some names which might defeat the research of even football's more dedicated statisticians, has defied all logic by propelling Ireland into the semi-finals of an international championship for the first time.

Players like Trevor Molloy from Sheriff Street on Dublin's northside, whose career was in crisis only six months ago after he had been released by Shamrock Rovers. Now he is Ireland's leading scorer in the competition with three goals after converting the penalty which gave them an unexpected win over Spain last Sunday.

The Malaysian barman had some difficulty recalling either Molloy or the most important score of his career, but eventually a smile creased his face.

"Ah yes, I remember now," he said. "The man who does a samba when he scores. I think he should play for Brazil."

With six of their best players ruled out of the championship through injury and other circumstances, the Irish are the sole European survivors in a semi-final line-up completed by Argentina and Uruguay and the African challengers Ghana in this, the first major tournament to be staged in this part of the world.

Brian Kerr, the manager, acknowledges that he could have done with the skills of Ian Harte and David Connolly, both full internationals, but is quick to stress the compensatory factors.

What we've lost in experience, we've gained in commitment and the camaraderie which has put us apart from every other country," he said. "It is hard to quantify things like that but in a very real way, the players have put Ireland on the map here."

That point is acknowledged by the Irish Ambassador to Malaysia, Brendan Lyons, the new Minister for Sport and the Arts, Jim McDaid, and not least, the handful of supporters who have made their way here.

In a stark reversal of the policy employed in senior competition, the organisers have quartered the opposing teams in the same hotel, a move which has been approved by both Irish and Argentinian officials.

Argentina, the holders, eliminated Brazil in the quarter-finals but if that result fazed the Irish players, it certainly wasn't apparent yesterday.

Unlike the players in Ireland's senior squad, the only money the Irish players receive is a daily subsistence allowance, unquantified by officials but thought to amount to less than Pounds 500 for the four weeks they've been together.

There could, however, be a one-off bonus operating today. Since the championship was launched, a total of 999 goals have been scored and FIFA - surprise, surprise - are ready to roll out the carpet for the first player to hit the target in either of today's semi-finals.

Traditionally, the world governing body has frowned on the custom in Britain and Ireland of rewarding individual heroics with a presentation of the match ball.

Now, it seems, they are ready to take a lead from the Irish and Trevor Molloy is fancying his chances of accumulating a piece of extra baggage ahead of Saturday's final.