In years to come it may well become one of those sporting oddities which give people with total recall, an opportunity to indulge their special attribute.

When did the Republic of Ireland flout the authority of FIFA and deliberately field a weakened team for a World Cup fixture.

It hasn't yet happened, of course, and according to Mick McCarthy, the jury is still out on the matter. Yet the thought persists that come the final qualifying game in Group Eight, against Romania at Lansdowne Road on October 15th, it will be part of Irish football folklore.

It has all to do, of course, with the problems deriving from what some would interpret as a serious breakdown in discipline, with no fewer than 10 players on yellow cards going into a game which, in terms, of qualification, is now relatively meaningless.

Even if Ireland lose and Lithuania win in Macedonia on the same day, it will take a 13 goal turn around to deny the Irish a place in the World Cup play-offs. And the extravagance of the modern game hasn't yet reached the point, I suspect, where that is remotely likely.

Should McCarthy therefore take the pragmatic view and risk the consequences of either a heavy defeat or the wrath of FIFA, or conceivably both, by omitting those on the threshold of a suspension which would become operative for the two-leg play off.

Or should he go with the risk and in line with his reputation as a player, be totally competitive, as promised in the aftermath of the recent 2-1 success in Lithuania?

The remarkable thing about the first scenario is that Ireland's resources have now expanded to the point where the manager of the day can put a respectable second X1 in the field. And if scarcely good enough to beat Romania, it would still amount to impressive testimony of the depth which the national squad has acquired over the last 12 years or so.

There was a time when the available resources were so thinly spread that even one withdrawal, occasioned major problems and those in charge were forced to improvise to a dangerous degree.

Current resources do not stretch to the point where McCarthy can readily replace players like Roy Keane or Steve Staunton but he is still capable of fielding an attractive alternative side, made up of players with reasonably high club profiles.

Whether he chooses to avail himself of that option is another matter but with so many people at risk of missing the play off through suspension, it's one which, for all the manager's earlier protestations, warrants the most careful consideration.

He will be encouraged by the current form of many of the fringe players, among them Alan Kelly and Gareth Farrelly, back in favour with Sheffield United and Everton respectively, and David Kelly, whose recovery from a knee problem, has been confirmed in some good performances for Tranmere.

Farrelly, seen by many as the likely long term replacement for Andy Townsend in the national team, gambled on leaving Aston Villa for Everton during the close season, a move motivated primarily by the need for the regular first team football denied him at Villa Park. Judging on recent performances, it looks as if he may at last, be facilitated.

Also in from the cold is Alan Kernaghan who hasn't figured in the national squad since captaining the team which beat Bolivia in New Jersey. That was attributable in the first instance to a protracted injury and on going problems with the management at Manchester City. Now after a temporary transfer to the Scottish club, St Johnstone, he is hopeful that he can revitalise a career which once promised so much.