It was a fairly uneventful, run-of-the-mill auld week for McCarthy's men abroad, apart from Thursday when, you might have read, some of them qualified for the 2002 World Cup finals in front of 80,000 Iranians. So how did the all-conquering supermen fare at the weekend? Well, eight of the Tehran starting 11 had to wipe the jet-lag from their eyes and return to club duty when, really, they should have been given three months off. Damien Duff, who did not make the trip, returned from injury and played for Blackburn against Liverpool on Saturday.

Mixed fortunes for the Tehran 11. Gary Breen, for example, was booked in Coventry's 2-0 home defeat by Burnley and left the pitch to a chorus of boos; he probably wished he was back in Tehran. Shay Given, Ian Harte and Robbie Keane were also brought back to planet earth with a loud thump in Newcastle's 3-1 defeat at Fulham and Leeds' 2-0 loss at Sunderland, while Matt Holland's goal for Ipswich against Bolton wasn't enough to avert a 2-1 home defeat.

There was, though, better news for the other three. Steve Finnan played in Fulham's win over Newcastle and Jason McAteer was largely responsible for Sunderland's opening goal against Leeds, scored by Julio Arca (Niall Quinn, incidentally, made the second). David Connolly, meanwhile, played in Wimbledon's 1-1 draw away to Barnsley and Clinton Morrison, a sub in Tehran, scored his 14th of the season in Crystal Palace's 4-1 win at home to Crewe. Kevin Kilbane, Steve Staunton and Gary Kelly didn't feature for their clubs while Mark Kinsella won't be in action till this evening for Charlton against West Ham.