While the North have failed to qualify for a major tournament since then, the Republic have prospered, until now.

A humiliating defeat by Cyprus at the weekend only emphasised how well Northern Ireland did to secure a point against Denmark in their Euro 2008 qualifier.

And the gap between the Irish sides is getting narrower going into another round of games tomorrow.

The Republic (ranked 43) face the Czech Republic while Northern Ireland (58) take on Latvia.

Having overtaken Wales, who suffered a massive home loss to Slovakia, in the world rankings, Sanchez wants to push on.

But he has sympathy for the plight of rival managers Steve Staunton and John Toshack.

Sanchez said: “It is ironic that when I took over, Scotland and ourselves were in the doldrums.

"Wales and the Republic were in the ascendancy.

“It has gone the other way, but that is football.

“I remember speaking to Brian Kerr at a conference. They were 15th and we were 124th.

“In the course of my time in charge I would like to think we could go above the Republic in the rankings.

“That would be an amazing achievement but it will be difficult because the Republic will come strong again.

“They have a lot more players to choose from than us and I am sure Wales will bounce back as well.

“But I do feel for Steve Staunton and John Toshack at this moment.”

Northern Ireland go into the match sitting in third place with the point in Copenhagen coming on the back of a superb victory against Spain and a home defeat by Iceland.

Sanchez, however, is wary of the threat Latvia pose even though the Baltic nation are ranked a lowly 94.

A 4-0 victory against Iceland in the campaign show they have to be respected.

Sanchez said: “Teams from 50th place down into the 100s can beat each other. It is that even.

“Latvia have had a bad time since qualifying for the finals of Euro 2004 and slipped down the rankings.

“But they have shown they can bridge gaps by beating Iceland.

“We have to take them very seriously and tomorrow will determine how much a chance of qualifying we have got.”

Damien Johnson is expected to return to the team at a packed and expectant Windsor Park.

The Birmingham midfielder came on as a second-half substitute against Denmark after completing a two-match suspension.

He looks likely to replace Michael Duff, who is banned, with Chris Baird switching to his normal right-back position.