Squad unwinds by the pool

After a performance that their manager lauded as "magnificent" on Wednesday night, the Irish players were allowed to put their feet up yesterday with the squad taking themselves off for a day by the pool.

The location of the pool was a bit odd. There aren't many cities in the world where the local centre for farming research would be the destination of choice on a professional footballer's day off, but in one of Africa's most bustling cities the Institute of Tropical Agriculture is reckoned to be the best place to unwind.

After the scene at the gate, it had to be. In all the squad were forced to sit on their sweltering bus for more than half an hour while a security guard tried to decide whether to let them in.

The institute's security people argued with just about everybody during that time but things got particularly heated with the team's protocol people and at one stage a minor scuffle broke out amongst some of the locals. On the bus there was a mixture of anger and bemusement and just a tiny hint of creeping unease as some of the players noticed a policeman holding a tear gas gun playing absent-mindedly with a canister of the stuff as he watched the dispute unfold.

With so much security on both sides, it was a difficult to remember whether these were our cops or theirs. Three hours later, after the players had enjoyed a relaxed afternoon in one of institute's open air cafes, the same policeman was posing with the gun for a Noel O'Reilly holiday snap. "You stand there with my favourite gun," prompted the Ireland coach and, grinning, the Nigerian complied.

The trip back in the bus to the team hotel was just as strange with thousands of locals rising to greet the Irish. The impression was of one seemingly endless Mexican wave. The local population have taken to the Irish, but come Sunday they'll almost certainly have to bid their new friends goodbye, since anything other than a first-place finish in the group would force the Irish to change base.

Brian Kerr admitted as much yesterday when he said that he now feels the team are effectively playing for second place.

"The only way we could win it is if the Mexicans were to lose to Saudi Arabia and I don't see that happening. But if we get a result against the Australians that'll definitely put us through and at this stage that will do us."

The Australians have been complaining about the fact that all three of their group matches were scheduled for four o'clock in the afternoon, a fact, they suspect, that has hindered their attempt to win Group C.

But Kerr was fairly dismissive of his opposite number Len Scheinflug's comments, pointing to the lengthy preparations that his opponent's team were able to embark upon before the championships and the fact they come from a far hotter climate than the Irish.

"I wouldn't pay too much attention to that sort of thing, to be honest," said Kerr. "What would be unfair would be to ask our lads to play all our games at that time. All of our games should have been in the evening, in fact, if I'd had my way they would have all been at about 10 o'clock at night."

Whatever the expected problems of the team's first afternoon kick off, the manager was clearly confident enough yesterday that they have adapted well enough to cope.

The day trip was the only thing on the agenda for the players with training skipped until this morning. Kerr is happy too that at this stage everybody looks to be fit - although he thought that five hours before Wednesday's match against Saudi Arabia only for Alex O'Reilly to come down with stomach problems in the build up to the game.

O'Reilly is still not quite 100 per cent while Keith Doyle continues to suffer more in the heat than the rest of the squad and Thomas Heary is also finding some of his food intake a bit of a challenge at times.

With luck, though, all 18 should be available for the first time tomorrow when Richie Baker, the only one of the panel not to have got a run out so far, almost certain to make an appearance at some stage.

Dean Delaney, one of the players to make his first appearance of these championships against the Saudis, was clearly hoping yesterday that he had done enough to retain the goalkeeper's jersey in the event that O'Reilly is considered fit enough to play tomorrow.

"I've been waiting a long time for my chance," said the Dubliner "since before Cyprus really, and so I wanted to grab it with both hands and I think I did well enough."

Delaney is still eligible to play at under-18 level and was in the side that took a huge step towards qualification for this summer's European finals by winning in Belfast last month while he already has one Youth FA Cup medal to his credit with Everton.

"Coming to something like this and not being involved, though, is really frustrating. To be fair to Alex he did really well in Cyprus so I don't really have any complaints but that doesn't make it any easier to be the one sitting on the sidelines."

Meanwhile, England are heading for an early exit from the championships after losing 1-0 to Cameroon yesterday. They also lost 1-0 in their first match against the United States.