It seems like a lifetime ago now for the Donegalman but, as Shay Given wandered out of the massive Azadi stadium in Tehran and towards his first major championships as an international player, his heart was soaring and his head was filled with memories of being back in Lifford, waving a flag out the window of the family car in celebration of past glories.

As he reflected on making dreams come true for so many others back at home, Given admitted there was a big part of him that wished he was back with his loved ones and friends.

"The thing is that I still feel like a fan as well as a player and now that it's over, that's where I'd love to be. I got a call from my father (SΘamus) before the game to wish me luck and I wish I could be back there with him now."

Four years ago Given's chance to experience the World Cup at first hand evaporated in Brussels. It is difficult to forget the heartbreaking sight of the then 21-year-old being led in tears from the pitch by team officials.

Last night he remembered the occasion too. "I was thinking of it all right," he said, "and how different all of this is. I was nearly in tears of joy tonight. It was a great feeling at the end out there and like the rest of the lads now I'm still buzzing thinking about the fact that I'm going to my first World Cup."

Like Given, Ian Harte was having trouble taking it all in, the Leeds United left-back explaining the silence in the nearby Irish dressing-room with the remark: "We've all been in there pinching ourselves, making sure that it's really turned out the right way for us this time."

Harte did more than his share over the course of the campaign. The 24-year-old was the only one of the squad to play every minute of every game and, with Roy Keane, he ended up as the team's top scorer with four goals.

Still, he insisted, the glory belonged to all who had played a part over the last 14 months. "The hope now is that we can get everybody back together for the finals because if we can do that, then there's no reason why we can't do well over there."

There will scarcely be more intimidating settings for the Irish in the Far East next summer, for the Azadi provided a fearsome backdrop ahead of yesterday's game. For Harte, though, the noise of the 80,000 crowd was an inspiration.

"It was an amazing occasion, something I'll never forget, but maybe I was fortunate in having experienced Galatasaray with Leeds, where it was even crazier because they were right up on top of you at the side of the pitch.

"The other thing about tonight was the fact that you could see them starting to leave during the second half. You could see that they felt it was slipping away from them and even the ones that were left didn't make anything like the same noise after that."

The tie, he felt, was won back in Dublin but there was pride too with the way the task was achieved. "I felt," he said, "that we did well enough in the first half when we took the game to them but in the second they pushed on a bit, put us under a good bit more pressure and managed to create a few more chances.

"If the goal had come a bit earlier it might have been worrying for us but I think we deserved what we got. It's been a long time coming and the hope is that we can go on and develop as a team with this behind us."

Team captain Steve Staunton was also looking to the future and insisting that this will just be the start for many of the team.

Mick McCarthy placed his trust in the Aston Villa defender back in June for the Portugal game and has been repaid with interest since. Staunton said the manager deserves an enormous amount of credit.

"He's taken a lot of stick over the last few years and a lot of it's been very unfair. He's wanted us to play football throughout this campaign and that's what we've done. I'm absolutely delighted for him. If anybody deserves it, he does."

Asked for the night's heroes, Staunton said: "Shay made a couple of great saves to keep us in it and Mattie Holland and Mark Kinsella in midfield were superb." Having started, he could have gone on but then there was, of course, a plane to catch.

The campaign trail: Five heroes

Richard Dunne: His own trepidation on hearing that he would play in Amsterdam was probably more than matched by ours, but the 22-year-old Dubliner coped magnificently with the challenge of Patrick Kluivert on the night. He went on to play in another six group matches.

Niall Quinn: By rights Quinn was entitled to hang up his international boots a couple of years ago but, despite a persistent back injury, he answers whenever the call comes. The 35-year-old has started most of the campaign's games and while he'll be slightly disappointed not to have scored more goals, his overall contribution has been outstanding.

Jason McAteer: The display of mutual affection between Mick McCarthy and McAteer after the Dutch game in Dublin was a rare glimpse of the team spirit that is one of this squad's strengths. His goal in Amsterdam should have been enough to guarantee Ireland the win but McAteer's real triumph was in bouncing back from a miserable performance in Cyprus that cost him his place against Andorra, and the winner on September 1st was richly deserved.

Roy Keane: McAteer's tormentor in Valetta, where his angry cries were clearly audible in the stands. Keane seemed at times to take the responsibility of getting this Irish side to next summer's finals squarely on his own shoulders and stuck with the task until the hard part of beating the Iranians had been done. Scored four goals over the course of the campaign and turned in several breathtaking performances over the nine games he was involved in.

Shay Given: It will always seem harsh on Alan Kelly that he did not get to play in more of this campaign after the way he performed in the opening three games, but Given's displays in the home games against Portugal and Holland were pretty much flawless and, in the latter game particularly, he kept his side in the contest.