A deflected strike from Lukas Podolski off the heel of unfortunate captain Robbie Keane was all that divided the teams in the opening Euro 2008 Group D qualifier in Stuttgart.

Staunton’s night ended in further misery when he was sent off 15 minutes from time by Spanish referee Luis Medina Cantalejo after complaining once too often regarding a challenge that went against his side.

In fury, as Staunton made his way down the tunnel at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion, he ripped the accreditation from around his neck and tossed it to one side.

It was an inauspicious ending for Staunton as there was to be no repeat for Ireland of the famous night in Stuttgart 18 years ago when they had beaten England 1-0 in the finals of Euro 88.

Promising “a different performance” from the horror show against Holland 17 days ago when Ireland were hammered 4-0 in a friendly, at least there was cause for optimism.

Staunton had a ready-made excuse, of course, on that occasion in that several of his big-name stars were sidelined through injury, notably captain Keane, Shay Given, Richard Dunne and Damien Duff.

This time around he fielded his strongest, most experienced line-up, wheeling his big guns back on to the frontline to take on the might of a German side fresh from their third place at the World Cup.

His starting XI boasted a combined total of 462 caps between them, in startling contrast to the seven-strong bench who could only muster a total of 32 caps, and with an average age of just 22.

Staunton required all that experience on the pitch to counter the sizzling atmosphere generated before kick off as the German fans attempted to recapture the flavour of the World Cup.

It was a raucous noise Ireland knew they would have to silence quickly to get anything out of the game, and they almost did just that after 80 seconds.

Liverpool right-back Steve Finnan, operating at left back for the Republic, curled in a teasing cross with his right foot into the heart of the area where Spurs striker Keane headed narrowly wide.

It at least had the effect of unsettling Germany as they took time to get into their stride, but when they did, Ireland wobbled.

Gratefully, Spanish referee Cantalejo correctly waved away appeals for handball against Stephen Carr in the 13th minute.

Replays showed an attempted clearing header from Andy O’Brien accidentally hitting the arm of Newcastle right-back Carr from point-blank range.

Then midway through the half a powerful drive from Michael Ballack ricocheted off the leg of Dunne, finishing a yard wide of Given’s right-hand post, and that was the cue for Germany to up a gear.

The Newcastle goalkeeper came into his own, pulling off two world- class saves in successive minutes as Germany pressed.

The first of those saw Given at full stretch as he brilliantly clawed away a downward header from Miroslav Klose after Bastian Schweinsteiger had nodded across a right-wing ball from Ballack.

That was swiftly followed by Given acrobatically pushing over the crossbar a rising drive from Podolski as Ireland’s defence parted uneasily.

Pegged back, two more chances followed, initially with Ballack heading woefully wide from 10 yards, before Podolski dragged a shot past the left-hand post from a similar distance.

It was a storm Ireland mercifully managed to weather, allowing them to head into the break on level terms and hopefully regroup.

They are spared again, though, when Podolski plants a free header over the bar from 12 yards just two minutes after the restart.

Then it was Ireland’s turn to go close, with Duff brought down by Schweinsteiger and teeing up Steven Reid for a 25-yard free-kick that Lehmann fumbled before Arne Friedrich cleared.

After Given smothered a shot from Klose, Germany gallingly took the lead in the 57th minute, with O’Brien and Dunne penalised for sandwiching Klose.

From just three yards outside the area, Schneider and Klose set up Podolski for a drive was going wide, only to ricochet off Keane, with the ball creeping inside Given’s left-hand post and beyond his despairing dive.

With the game ebbing away, and Cantalejo’s decisions infuriating Staunton, his anger spilled over again in the 75th minute and that was enough for the official to give him his marching orders.

Youngsters Stephen Elliott, Aiden McGeady and Alan O’Brien all came on soon after, but it was to no avail as Ireland could not muster a point-saving equaliser.