It was far from a full house and it was mostly a team populated by mostly fringe players, but a 2 - 0 win over Oman last night sets Ireland up nicely for the opening 2016 qualifier against Georgia on Sunday.
Former Ireland goalscorer Niall Quinn is confident that the team is now feeling good about itself and he looked ahead to the campaign on the Monday Rewind special with Oisin Langan.
The ex-Sunderland striker compared and contrasted the emerging approach under Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane with what came before under Giovanni Trapattoni, seeing an "emphasis on getting the ball into good areas" instead of the defensive style.
"I think Martin has shown that he can do more with his system," he told Oisin.
Quinn also spoke about how O'Neill could develop the current crop of players based on his history with the likes of Neil Lennon at club level, and explained how Roy Keane's Aston Villa role will benefit the Ireland setup.
He also previewed the trip to Tbilisi to take on Georgia and wants John O'Shea to be "the voice of reason" in a hostile environment, against a team that has been described as 11 Georgi Kinkladzes.
Listen to the full preview below which also includes Quinn's prediction for the All Ireland hurling final:
You can download the Monday Rewind via iTunes.
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