Bill O'Herlihy asked the question on Wednesday on Network Two's coverage of Euro 2000 whether it "was a bit like the old days" at Lansdowne Road where Ireland faced Yugoslavia. On Saturday night in Zagreb against Croatia his question was answered. No.

Mark Lawrenson, Noel King and Frank Stapleton on TV3 all read the script correctly on Saturday as Ireland played in one of the most ill-balanced, brave, fortuitous, anxious matches since Mick McCarthy took over.

Before a ball was kicked the question was thrown out as to whether Mick McCarthy had now come of age as a manager. "Up until his team selection tonight, I'd say yes," offered Lawrenson. "Tony Cascarino up front on his own? Cascarino. He's not mobile. He never has been mobile," offered the former Irish defender.

The match was played out as if the schoolyard bully had amassed the 11 best players in the class and taken on the 11 worst such was the one-way passage. In the stadium Stapleton was fretting. He'd been there under the hammer before with Jack Charlton and he could see the team creaking, the fractures widening and the players blowing.

First it was the Spanish referee who was "fussy". Frank didn't think that would help Ireland, who were monumentally not fussy. Lawrenson had predicted defeat for Ireland and under Stapleton's wariness we could feel the inevitability of it all crashing down.

The timing in the fourth minute of extra time simply made it all the more poignant. Croatia's dominance was well illustrated late in the second half after Croatian striker Jarni had a hard low shot saved by Alan Kelly.

Commentator Conor McNamara told us during the replay of Jarni's shot that the live action was of Cascarino moving forward in possession. After the few seconds it took to complete the replay the cameras switched back live only to show the home side again sweeping into the Irish half with green shirts furiously back pedalling.

TV3 have the rights to all of Ireland's away qualifying matches in Euro 2000 which made this week one of two halves, so to speak. On Wednesday, Network Two gave its all for the game against Yugoslavia, while on Saturday Stapleton et al replied from Zagreb.

Joe Kinnear, an affable, bubbly, slightly overweight Cockney Irish manager, sat beside Eamonn Dunphy, a flinty, underweight pundit renowned for delivering home truths on Network Two. Jim Beglin was, relatively, the fresh faced boy.

Dunphy's place on Euro 2000 football panels is to divide audiences. It is a natural instinct for him to take people out, almost in passing. Alex Ferguson made "disgraceful comments" regarding Robbie Keane's worth. Ferguson received a brief mauling and on Dunphy continued.

Both Dunphy and Kinnear have just returned from illness and both, in locker-room fashion, joked it off. "I'd really like to squash the rumour that working with you hasn't contributed to my heart attack," said Kinnear to O'Herlihy, posting the early tone.

But where Lawrenson is smooth and sharp and Kinnear is streetwise, Dunphy is oddly compelling. He is a natural polemicist. He deals in ferocious opinions and it doesn't really matter if he is subsequently proven correct or incorrect. He is a gambler by nature and if he has a bad first half he'll pull up his socks and come right back into it. Quality pundit. Reliable player at this level.

What both networks drew from the Irish soccer team this week was echoes of the Charlton era. It reminded us of what we once had in our national team and rightfully cherished. The emotions in both games took us back to US '94 and Italia '90 and proved conclusively that emotive and one dimensional football with success is more desirable than anything.

On Saturday afternoon the All-Ireland Women's Football semi-finals from Parnell Park were covered live by Network Two for the first time. Mayo faced Meath and Waterford played Monaghan and both were lively games.

Women's football appears to have moved on in recent years. The players are more athletic and better trained and skill levels are higher. The Mayo team, we were informed by commentator Ger Canning, had nine girls still at secondary school. Nine schoolgirls! Enough to beat Meath all the same and put down a marker for the future. Waterford also advanced at the expense of Monaghan.

Interesting to note that there were more people watching this game than the 3,000 who attended the interprovincial rugby match at Donnybrook on Friday. It bodes well for the women's game.

Tuesday on UTV and campaigning journalist John Pilger was shinning a light on Australia's past dealings with the native Aborigines. The Secret Shame behind the Sydney Olympics illustrated a number of athletes in the past who were ignored by Australian officials simply because they were not white.

At the Melbourne games of 1956 there was not one native Australian in the team. Sprinter Wally McCarthy, cricketer Eddie Gilbert and boxer Ron Richards were the best of their time at their sports and studiously overlooked by the national selectors.

At the last Commonwealth Games the current 400 metres world champion Cathy Freeman carried the Aborigine, not the Australian flag, after her success on the track in a pointed protest against her country.

So great is the prejudice that "Aborigines who represent Australia in the Olympics are aberrations," we were told.

Not unlike O'Herlihy's question to the football panel, Pilger was asking his country if Australia was still "a bit like the old days".