The French public want him out, his players seem to have little or no respect for him, and as recently as yesterday he had a bust-up with his captain.

The might of the French squad arrived in Dublin an apparently disjointed and unhappy group, seemingly without direction and motivation. In football, sometimes timing can be everything.

Rightly or wrongly, Raymond Domenech has been the focal point for all the failings of the French. The supposed lack of unity in their dressing room gave plenty of cause for Irish optimism prior to kick-off.

The more exposure we got to their manager, the more hopeful we became. Though the individuals at Domenech's disposal have enough ability to more than compensate for his multitude of shortcomings, Karim Benzema's recent admission that he finds it more difficult to motivate himself while playing for his country indicated further that an upset was well within our reach.

If Domenech was indeed to be their greatest weakness, the input of over 70,000 Irish fans strengthened our hand considerably. From the moment the national anthem ended, they supported, appreciated and encouraged in a way they had yet to do in any soccer game at Croke Park before this one.

The passion and work-rate of the Irish players to which the French referred all last week was abundantly evident from the first minute. In the opening moments, both Damien Duff and Richard Dunne put in fierce challenges, while Thierry Henry's first touch ran straight out of play. It was an encouraging start, and one which set the tone for much of the opening 45 minutes.

We were the happier of the two teams at half-time, though Andre-Pierre Gignac demonstrated as early as the 10th minute the threat the French posed, particularly in attack. A slight misjudgment by Dunne lead to the ball being lobbed beautifully over the head of Shay Given. Thankfully, the assistant referee was on hand to rightfully flag for offside.

Five minutes into the second half, the vulnerability of the French defence at set pieces was exposed by Dunne's header from Liam Lawrence's corner kick. For their part though, the French were beginning to look a different side.

Whatever was said during the break, they emerged with a renewed sense of purpose, and could have easily been awarded a penalty with a little over 20 minutes remaining. Evra's surge into Shay Given's box resulted in the full-back throwing himself in the air following the slightest of contact with the goalkeeper. If the referee deemed there was no contact, Evra can consider himself fortunate not to have received a booking, one which would have ruled him out of the second leg.

Moments later, the most unluckiest of deflections off the heel of Sean St Ledger put the French ahead. It was heart-breaking, if not deserved at the time. Giovanni Trapattoni has said all along it would be decided by the "little things". How right he was on this occasion.

With 10 minutes remaining, Kevin Kilbane's attempted pass to Given almost lead to Gignac adding the second. Fortunately, and very surprisingly, his effort went out for a throw-in.

A second away goal for the French at that point would surely have sealed it. The introduction of McGeady and Hunt was needed to inject some energy into a tiring team, though ultimately it was too little, too late. In the 86th minute, Whelan came close but Lloris saved superbly. For the first time in his reign, the manager has suffered defeat in a competitive fixture.

While conceding home advantage would suggest we have it all to do, the formation and style adopted throughout the group is one that lends itself to playing away from home.

We're not expected to go and get a result, but Keith Andrews and Given avoided the booking which would have ruled them out, and there are no fresh injury concerns for Trapattoni.

The task ahead is straightforward, though incredibly difficult. We need to go to Paris and score. If qualification is to be achieved, it will take a monumental effort from all.

Of particular note also yesterday, was Stephen Ireland's use of a variety of anecdotes and insights to reveal many things, but primarily that he is, in fact, an idiot. Regardless of the result on Wednesday, he apparently regrets nothing. If things go our way in Paris, neither will we.

richard.sadlier@gmail.com

Sunday Independent