Smiles suggest it wasn't half bad

Players' reaction: Well, for the Irish players doing the talking last night that was another box ticked in the "lifetime's ambition" list. It might be a while yet until a February friendly at Lansdowne Road is the stuff of their dreams.

The result? "Pleasing." The experience? The smiles suggested that playing the world champions and most famous footballing nation on earth wasn't half bad.

"That's one to tell the grandchildren about, I kept a clean sheet against Brazil," said Shay Given. "Yeah, we're pleased. I suppose we'd have taken a draw before the game, they're the world champions after all, some class players, but if we'd a bit of luck in front of goal we might have beaten them, who knows."

Given versus Ronaldo? The goalkeeper won that duel, as the grin confirmed. "Ah, his feet are so quick, he's something special. He had a couple chances, one wasn't too far wide, but yeah, nice to keep him out, I enjoyed that one.

"But the defence was superb. Deserved the clean sheet, worked so hard. I thought Andy O'Brien and Kenny Cunningham were excellent, delighted for Andy especially. He was a rock at the back, right until the final whistle, a great block in the last minute - he didn't look out of place against Ronaldo, so credit to him."

"It was just a good collective performance," said O'Brien, downplaying his contribution. "It was enjoyable testing ourselves against the best tonight and, naturally, from the defence's point of view it's special to keep a clean sheet against them."

Enter the man of the match, Clinton Morrison? Did you enjoy it? "Who wouldn't enjoy it playing against Brazil? Definitely enjoyed it. Yeah, it was a friendly, but if you're not motivated playing Brazil you shouldn't be a footballer, should you? They're the best team in the world, they've got great, great players, everyone was up for it.

"I thought the team played well, created a few chances, worked really hard for each other. Brian (Kerr) has been telling me and Robbie (Keane) we've got to play as a pair, I think we did tonight. It worked out, we were happy with how it went."

No wonder Jason McAteer's return to the squad was greeted with celebratory whoops by those who desperately seek post-match quotes for a living.

"I feel like a popstar with all you lot," he says, barely able to see the scrum of tape recorders that greet his post-match reappearance. "It was fantastic, it's been a great week for me, coming back, seeing the lads, it's something I thought might not ever happen again. The crowd were great to me when I came on, but they always have been at Lansdowne Road. Unfortunately we couldn't nick a goal for them tonight."

Back to club duty, then, but busy international months ahead, with games against the Czech Republic, Romania, Cyprus, Switzerland, France and the Faroe Islands before year's end. None quite matching Brazil in the glamour stakes. After all, France, the 1998 world champions and reigning European champions, only have Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet up front. After handling Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka they should be a piece of cake. Shouldn't they?