But the modest 28-year-old believes there is always room for improvement. He said: ‘‘You’re always improving as a player whether you’re 21 or 35.

‘‘There are always things to improve in your game and certainly I’ve enjoyed the experience.

‘‘There are lots of things I can take on board. I’d have to sit down and watch both the videos and analyse the games properly to see what I’ve achieved and other areas where I can learn.

‘‘I’ve enjoyed myself. Every single player wants to play at the highest level and it doesn’t come much bigger than the World Cup.

‘‘You enjoy pitting yourself against the very best. I’ve enjoyed the first two games, that’s for sure.

‘‘It’s living up to my dreams and if we qualify, it’ll be even better and that has to be the aim now.

‘‘When we came here, we said we wanted to get through the group. That’s not changed and we’re in a good position to do that now.’’

In order to achieve that aim, Ireland must beat Saudi Arabia by two goals in Tuesday’s final Group E clash

‘‘The aim was not to get beaten in the opening two games, we came through those two and in both cases we could have won,’’ said Holland.

‘‘Against Germany we were two minutes from possibly being out of the competition and then we’re very much back in it.

‘‘The emotions change in that small period and certainly it was one of the most emotional nights of my career.

‘‘Certainly, at the start of the competition if you’d said to us 2-0 against the Saudis will see you through we’d have taken it and it’s important to go into the game knowing what we have to do, but it’s also important not to underestimate the Saudis.

‘‘We’re in a good position. We know if we win 2-0 we’re through. If we play as well as we did in the first two games, we’ll win the game.

‘‘The same level of performance, the same commitment and we’ll win the game. We’ll treat the Saudi game exactly as we’ve treated the first two games.’’