Turner's Cross, September 6, 2005. It's the night before Thierry Henry's strike stuns Lansdowne Road and, although he doesn't know it then, Kevin Doyle is playing his last U-21 match for Ireland.

His team-mates include current internationals Aiden McGeady and Stephen Kelly. The opponents were their French counterparts, containing future senior stars such as Franck Ribery, Jeremy Toulalan, Lassana Diarra and Gael Clichy.

Rich in pedigree, the youthful Les Bleus came to Cork, didn't play particularly well but still conquered. A second-half winner in a 2-1 success was a sign of things to come 24 hours later.

"We were unlucky not to get something from that game," recalls Doyle, "but that's what happens against sides like that sometimes."

The lessons with respect to this week are obvious. Having been stung by Italy's late resistance at Croke Park last month, Doyle and his Irish colleagues must not let the favourites escape from a tight situation now that it really, really matters.

"They were a strong team then," he says, "athletic and physical. One of my team-mates from Wolves now, Ronald Zubar, he was playing for them. We weren't outclassed and we were confident, but they just got the win.

"It's what happens. We've just done enough a few times in this group now against the so-called smaller teams. France do it to teams like ourselves but we're learning to deal with that. We're confident that we can get a result against any of these teams."

This is the test. Confidence is a buzz word around the Irish camp. It's been a constant theme of discussion during Doyle's four years in the senior international set-up. Mostly, the team have been presumed to be without it, until the arrival of Giovanni Trapattoni.

His first taste of the bad vibes was when Brian Kerr called the Reading new boy up to provide cover for his final double-header against Cyprus and Switzerland. Then came the Staunton era, where Doyle's emergence was one of the few good news stories. Many others have come and gone in the interim.

Indeed, Doyle will make his 31st Irish appearance on Saturday and is shocked to hear that only six other members of the squad -- Robbie Keane, John O'Shea, Damien Duff, Shay Given, Kevin Kilbane and Richard Dunne -- have more caps to their name.

"That's a strange one," he says, "I don't want to be in the 'old' bracket. When I came in to the squad first there was just me and Stephen Elliott as the youngest players and after that there was a gap to the next age. It's strange now, that when we do young versus old in training, I'm in the old team. I don't feel like I'm that experienced, I feel younger than that.

"I was lucky when I came in because I was new and young. I was spared some of the criticisms which the other players got. It wasn't the best run we were on at the time. I'm on my third manager now, and it was a bad few years results-wise, but I think it was good that I got that experience because it makes me appreciate doing well now a lot more."

Certainly, it's a far more settled environment. For Doyle, speaking to the Irish Independent on promotional duty for EA Sports' 'FIFA 10', there's a familiar routine on weeks like this. As ever, he will room with his old Cork City and Reading buddy Shane Long. The banter is good.

In September, he was even afforded the honour of captaining the team against South Africa in the absence of the senior stars -- a career highlight which cemented his contentment with his international lot.

"The fact we haven't been beaten in 10 (competitive) games helps," he laughs. "Any team always seems to be happy when they're on a good run. It makes everything seem a lot rosier, but that is the case. It's a nice squad to be in now, it's just the little things.

"I know Shane well, he's familiar to me so there's no awkwardness. I presume it would be strange for anyone to live with another person in a room for seven, eight or nine days and be stuck making small talk. It's just good to be relaxed."

He doesn't plan to get bogged down talking about statistics. Various bits of trivia get produced on weeks like this; not least the fact that Ireland have been unable to beat a team seeded above them in competitive action since the famous win over Holland in 2001.

Such anomalies are a journalist's dream, but the 26-year-old pays little attention. If anything, he dwells on the positives.

"The good thing about stats is that they have to be broken," he says. "We played Portsmouth this year, they hadn't won a game in six and then they beat us. They were never going to go a full season without winning a game. We just happened to be the unfortunate ones at the other end.

"For a long time with Ireland, it was a case of being asked why we couldn't get results away from home, or why we concede away from home late, but I think that's changed in this campaign to some extent.

"It's the same with that stat. We haven't beaten a team that's ranked higher than us in a while... well... we're going to do it at some stage. So let's hope it's this week."

Discussions with Wolves' Serbian midfielder Nenad Milijas confirmed his opinion that the French are far from bulletproof.

"He said they're good, but they're beatable," says Doyle, "They aren't playing as well as they can because otherwise they wouldn't be in the play-offs. We've just got to hope that special players like Henry, like Benzema, don't score the special goals that can change games like this."

Past experience suggests that eventuality cannot be ruled out, yet this crop of Irish players feels they are wiser from learning the hard way. Now is the time to reverse the roles.

- Daniel McDonnell

Irish Independent