Mick McCarthy says that he is delighted with the Republic of Ireland's World Cup draw. Ireland have been drawn in group E, the same group as Germany, Saudi Arabia and Cameroon, with all games to be played in Japan. McCarthy laughingly declined England manager Sven Goran Eriksson's offer to swap his nightmare group of Argentina, Nigeria and Sweden.
"I'm delighted with the draw," McCarthy told reporters after the ceremony in the port city of Pusan. "I just spoke to Sven coming in, I think I was slightly happier than he was.”
McCarthy said he did not know too much about Cameroon and Saudi Arabia. "But we will get the videos and do our research on them," he said. McCarthy said Germany would be easy to get information on because England played them in the qualifiers and added that Cameroon had surprise value as they could display "absolute brilliance" or turn in much shakier performances.
"World Cups have inspired them in the past. They are colourful and they'll have that trickery. (Germany) are more well-drilled and organised.”
McCarthy remained cautious and would not be drawn on whether he was confident of reaching the second round. "Don't be putting that on me six months before we kick the ball for goodness sake," he said. "If Holland were here they would be potential winners. We knocked them out. We're not a bad side. Don't put pressure on us too early."
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
