Emmet Malone on Andy O'Brien's struggle for international recognition.

When Andy O'Brien almost casually mentions a few minutes into a press conference that he has played more than 120 games in three years at Newcastle he has the sound of a man who is not making his case for inclusion in Ireland's starting line-up for the first time.

"You'd like to think it would count for something," he remarks coolly, as he mentions in passing that the team has qualified in two of those three seasons for the Champions League. Still, it seems, the international breakthrough he craves continues to elude him.

At 24, he insists, he still views his career at this level with a long-term perspective, although there have been rumours in the past that his continuing disappointment at having to settle for life on the Irish sidelines had driven him to the brink of particularly premature retirement from the international stage.

O'Brien, as it happens, took his time before committing to the Republic in the first place, mulling his options over after both a spell at an England training camp and an Ireland under-21 debut against Sweden in April of 1999. It then took just over two years for Mick McCarthy to grant him his senior debut, away to Estonia. But despite featuring in the couple of games that followed he has still just eight caps to his credit and scarcely hides his frustration when he mentions that in nearly three years he has played just five minutes of competitive football at this level.

With manager Brian Kerr making clear his intention to spread the opportunities around, the centre back's chance may come this evening against the Brazilians. But with the manager enjoying a growing range of options at the back, a more sustained run in the side still seems beyond his grasp for the moment.

Asked about his claim to a regular place, O'Brien refuses to be drawn too far. The Harrowgate- born defender recalls only that he was asked what he brought to the table when he arrived at Newcastle from a Bradford side that was on its way out of the premier division.

"I think what I've shown since," he observes, "is an ability to get into a squad and then to stay there. I've played more often than not since the move and I think I've done okay, although obviously at 24 I'm still young and learning all the time."

When he signed by Bobby Robson his arrival sparked a minor outcry that the club had not shown more ambition than to recruit a little known Irish under-21 international for a couple of million quid. But towards the end of that first season Robson's assistant, John Carver, singled him out as the team's outstanding performer for his speed, swift reaction and strong reading of the game. As for the fans, well, if they are not all yet entirely convinced of his pedigree, they must at least concede that his signing looks now like a tidy piece of business by their veteran manager.

As other, more expensive players arrived, there were times when it seemed likely he would slip out of Newcastle's first team, but he has won some important battles over the past couple of seasons, something that has perhaps given him the confidence to believe he will prevail with Ireland too.

"It's gone well for me at Newcastle and this year has been good because we've had a more settled back four, with Jonathan Woodgate and myself tending to be the partnership in the centre. Apart from the game at Chelsea, where we let in five, we've been fairly solid, and at home we've the best defensive record in the Premiership, which I think we had last season as well."

Not bad, even if he himself jokes that Shay Given winning the club's player of the year award last season could be interpreted as taking some of the shine off the defence's record.

Under normal circumstances it seems the sort of record that would generate entirely reasonable expectations of somewhat greater international recognition, but O'Brien knows he is not the first one to suffer in these sort of circumstances, and for the moment he admits that there is little to be done except bide his time.

"I appreciate the manager's position," he says quietly.

"He calls in 23 players and can only pick 11, so my philosophy has always been that when I'm in the team I work hard, do my best to keep the place, and when I'm not I look to improve and do whatever I can to get in.

"Looking at it long term," he adds, "I believe that if I can get my place then I can hold my place."

The coming months should tell whether he is as good as his word.