BIG MAC HAILS HEROES.

Byline: BILL PIERCE 

REPUBLIC of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy was full of praise for his players after the 10 men in green held out to beat Holland 1-0 in the World Cup qualifier at Landsdowne Road.

The Dutch, recent 2-0 winners over England, went down to a strike from Blackburn's out-of-favour midfielder Jason McAteer after the Irish had Gary Kelly sent off in the second half.

So proud

The defeat virtually ends Holland's hopes of reaching the finals in Korea and Japan next year, while the Republic should qualify automatically if they beat Cyprus in their remaining Group Two match.

When asked to describe how he felt after the final whistle, McCarthy said: 'I am not articulate enough to do it. I am running on adrenaline.

'It was amazing... it was aggressive... we dug in.

'The scribes will find words for it tomorrow but I am so proud of the team.'

McCarthy joked that after Kelly was sent off for his second bookable offence: 'I thought we would win 3-0 then!

'All week I have said I don't want to talk about who was missing, let's talk about who was playing.

'Let's talk about Jason McAteer. He can't get a game - I am not knocking the club he is at - but he was absolutely magnificent today and he ran his heart out.'

Looking forward to the game against Cyprus, McCarthy added: 'Let's win that - boring, pragmatic, professional.

'This is a very proud moment but it's what the lads have done for me.'

Meanwhile, Mark Hughes insisted Wales were still heading in the right direction despite their exit from the World Cup yesterday.

Wales' faint hopes of reaching the finals in Korea and Japan next year ended after the 0-0 draw with Armenia in Cardiff.

He said: 'In the first half I was pleased with our play, our possession. In the second I wasn't.

'Armenia came out after the break much sharper and quicker than us and it knocked us out of our stride. It took us a long time to get our balance back.

'Of course I'm disappointed with the way things have turned out. But I will now turn to the future, play our last couple of group matches and then think about friendlies next year and plans for the next tournament.

'But I still think we are going in the right direction. We are a much harder team to beat, we are organised and we have now drawn six of our eight games.

'But I felt we needed to be sharper and quicker in our play. It just didn't happen in that second half and we do not seem able to turn draws and possession into wins.'

MATCH REPORT

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CAPTION(S):

OLD PALS ACT... Republic skipper Roy Keane shrugs off the challenge of former United team-mate Jaap Stam