McAteer leaves the Dutch in trouble

Republic of Ireland 1 Holland

On an afternoon of vibrant emotion, the Republic of Ireland made the Oranje pips squeak in effectively eliminating Louis van Gaal's team from the World Cup while ensuring that at the very least they themselves will be involved in a highly winnable play-off against the third-ranked Asian country. Jason McAteer's goal, after Gary Kelly had been sent off with more than half an hour left, means that, although Portugal should still top Group Two on goal difference, assuming they win their remaining matches, the Irish need not even draw their final match, at home to Cyprus next month, to finish runners-up.

That is the least they deserve after a campaign in which they have constantly defied the odds after being drawn in the same section as two countries ranked in the world's top 10, who both reached the semi-finals of the last European Championship. Now Mick McCarthy's team are unbeaten in 14 matches and on the verge of qualifying for a major tournament for the first time since 1994.

On that occasion – as in 1988 and 1995 (in Jack Charlton's last match) – it was the Dutch who ended Irish dreams without allowing them so much as a goal. This time Van Gaal's men could not find a way through, even when, late in the game, they seemed to have about seven forwards on the pitch. Richard Dunne and Steve Staunton, the second-choice pairing that had held them up in Amsterdam a year ago, did so again, with Shay Given proving unbeatable behind them. The midfield worked their green socks off and McCarthy's ploy of leaving out Niall Quinn and going with the two little men, Robbie Keane and the excellent Damien Duff, kept Holland thinking.

"It was a famous victory earnt by an honest bunch of fellas," McCarthy said. "With five regular first-teamers out and one sent off, it's got to go down as one of our best victories. We did ride our luck, but I think we earned it."

Van Gaal believed his side fell into the trap of opting for the long ball too much, especially after Kelly's dismissal. He was understandably pleased with the early stages, for within six minutes every member of the reconstituted home defence had given the ball away in dangerous areas. Kelly's aberration was almost costly, Patrick Kluivert dispossessing him and running clear on goal only to roll the ball a foot wide.

Before the home side settled, Mark van Bommel tried his luck from the sort of distance that beat England's Nigel Martyn, his effort flying lower and straight at Given. The goalkeeper was also grateful that efforts from Boudewijn Zenden and Van Bommel were close enough to him for comfortable catches.

Edwin van der Sar was less busy as the Irish, without the aerial power of Quinn, tried to work their way through or behind the visitors' defence. The lanky goalkeeper dropped low to hold a shot from Robbie Keane, who then claimed he had been pushed while heading wide.

Arthur Numan of Rangers (not a popular selection in Dublin) had to leave the field for five minutes after collecting an arm in the face from McAteer, which seemed to disrupt the Dutch for the latter period of the first half. They threatened only once more, Ruud van Nistelrooy just failing to turn in a free-kick whipped across the face of goal by Zenden. Ipswich's Matt Holland had similar bad luck with Robbie Keane'e driven cross, and mis-hit a volley following Duff's clever cross.

Unlike Liverpool's Sander Westerveld, Stam was at least able to take out his undoubted frustration at the extraordinary events of last weekend by pulling on a shirt and attempting to show Sir Alex Ferguson his true worth. He did not allow Robbie Keane much scope, but still came in for criticism from his coach for a lack of discipline towards the end.

It was hardly appreciated at the time that the most significant act of the first half might turn out to be the booking of Kelly for a foul on Marc Overmars after 37 minutes. When Kelly went through the back of the Barcelona winger again 13 minutes after the interval, the referee, Hellmut Krug, produced a second yellow card followed by a red. McCarthy immediately sent on Steve Finnan, withdrawing Robbie Keane, while the Dutch brought on Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Pierre van Hooijdonk to add even more weight to their attack.

Given seemed lucky not to concede a penalty as Steve Staunton mis-headed a back-pass beyond him that van Nistelrooy was about to tap in. But, against all expectation, Holland's lack of caution back-fired with an Irish goal in the 67th minute that sent Lansdowne Road into a state of delirium. For almost the first time in the half, the Republic were able to break forward in numbers. A controlled move ended with Finnan checking back and chipping past the far post, where McAteer, unmarked, calmly netted.

For the rest of the game Duff was left on his own in attack while the other green-shirted heroes defended for their World Cup lives. They restricted the Dutch to two chances that Kluivert fluffed, to conclude one of the great days of Irish football history.

Although the Dutch were nothing like as impressive yesterday as in their demolition of England, the finals next summer would undoubtedly be the poorer for their absence. That is hardly Ireland's worry.

Republic of Ireland 1 Holland 0

McAteer 67

Half-time: 0-0 Attendance: 49,000