Igor Pamic, the German-based player who was only brought into the squad on Tuesday, is a surprise choice in the Croatian team to face the Republic of Ireland tomorrow.

The selection follows the loss of the team's two top strikers, Davor Suker and Alen Boksic, who together with Robert Prosinecki and Slaven Bilic, were not available for selection by manager Miroslav Blazevic.

Pamic, 29, has made only four previous international appearances and was not included among the 22-man squad for the recent World Cup finals. But he was among the Croatian substitutes for the finals of the 1996 European championship in England.

He will be partnered up front in a 3-5-2 formation by the Croatia Zagreb player Silvio Maric, who scored one of the goals which knocked Celtic out of the European Champions' League. Significantly, however, he has hit the target only once in his eleven games in international football.

Acknowledging the new formation as a gamble, Blazevic said: "It's not the one I would have chosen in ordinary circumstances, but in the situation in which we find ourselves it is the best we have."

Blazevic, who had earlier supervised a a training session at Belfield in Dublin, added: "It's going to be a difficult game for us and I'll be happy with a draw. It's a big test of character for the team, for after France '98 expectations in our country are now very high."

Asked about the opposition, he said: "Ireland play a strong, physical, game and, as they proved when we met in Dublin two years' ago, they are very difficult to beat at home.

"Everybody in England is now talking about Robbie Keane and, of course, they will also have Roy Keane back. I respect them as very strong opponents."