Preliminary negotiations with Argentina opened soon after the Irish booked their passage to the Far East by overcoming Iran in a two-legged play-off last month.

And it could mean world stars like Juan Sebastian Veron, Gabriel Batistuta and Hernan Crespo coming to Dublin in April or May to test themselves against the traditional ‘British’ style of play they will encounter in the finals against England and Sweden.

Ireland’s opening opponents in Japan will be Cameroon, the reigning African Nations Cup champions, whose players are dotted all over Europe including midfielder-cum-full back Lauren at Arsenal whom he joined in a £7m move from Spain’s Real Mallorca at the start of last season.

Lauren was named ‘Player of the Tournament’ after Cameroon defeated Nigeria in a penalty shoot-out in the final of last year’s African Nations Cup but they are not regarded as favourites for next year’s event which starts in January.

Ireland have never played them before but the team which lost to England in extra time in the 1990 World Cup finals, a tournament they began with a shock 1-0 win over Argentina despite having two players sent off, will clearly be better equipped to deal with the heat and humidity in Japan.

So, too, will Saudi Arabia but the team which topped their Asian qualifying group to gain direct entry to the finals are not rated as highly as Iran who beat them 2-0 in Tehran in August and then earned a 2-2 draw in Jeddah a month later.

And Germany’s 5-1 hammering by England in Munich in September suggests it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the Irish could even top their group.

History is on Ireland’s side as well. They have played a unified German team just once since the war and gained a magnificent 2-0 win in Hanover just a month ahead of the 1994 finals in America.

McCarthy will be anxious to play down any sense of over-expectation. He has already fulfilled his brief from Football Association of Ireland by simply qualifying for the finals after near-heart-breaking near-misses in play-offs ahead of World Cup 98 and Euro 2000.

But the Republic were unbeaten in a European qualifying group containing the giants of Portugal and Holland.

And although they finished only runners-up on goal difference behind the Portuguese their tally of 24 points from seven wins and three draws was only bettered in the European groups by Sweden.

As the manager says: ‘‘Just look at our record and you can see why we should fear nobody and earn respect from everybody.’’

His squad have also been designated to Japan, rather than South Korea, for their three Group E matches and before the draw, McCarthy admitted to a ‘‘slight preference’’ for that having identified a attractive training-base in Izumo.

Mark Lawrenson, former Liverpool and Ireland defender who now works in the Irish and British media as a soccer pundit, looked at the draw and said: ‘‘We’ll certainly take that.

‘‘The weather conditions will obviously play a great part and despite what England did to Germany nobody should ever write off the Germans in major tournaments but I certainly fancy Mick and the boys to do well.’’

It will be an opinion shared all over the Emerald Isle and will guarantee a full house at Lansdowne Road for the Republic’s first two friendlies of next year against Russia on February 13 and Denmark on March 27.