All week long we had been warned that Ireland's visit to Iran would be a trip into the deep unknown. So it came as a bit of a disappointment when George Hamilton, RT╔'s chirpy frontman, beamed out at us not in fatigues and flakjacket but in regular sports-presenter-type creased shirt.

The Hamster has been our trusty guide for most of Ireland's great soccer expeditions of the past decade and he was eager to assure us Iran was unlike anywhere our boys in green had played before.

"A different world," he marvelled, as we watched footage of a car travelling down a street. "4,000 feet above sea level, 12 million people, teeming streets . . . and no booze," he reported, sounding genuinely flabbergasted.

Back in the studio Gilesy and Dunphy were in a grave mood. John Giles predicted Ireland would go through relatively untroubled but the nation held its breath as Eamo puckered his lips and passed judgment. "There is a great mood around the country and I don't want to spoil it but I don't think that Irish team inspires confidence," he sighed.

Bill O'Herlihy, the kindly uncle in these fraught situations, stared back at Eamo with profound intensity and said, "4,000 feet. That's nearly a mile high isn't it".

Back to Tehran and a first glimpse of the astonishing Azadi stadium, which, rumour had it, might hold anything between 10,000 and one million happy Iranians, depending on its mood. The Hamster, still in altitude mode, reported, somewhat nervously, that both he and Jim Beglin had been given a commentary spot ominously above the nose-bleed seats. Quietly, we murmured approvingly at the Iranian seating policy.

Kick-off and soon it became apparent we were in for the long haul. Ali Daei and company were strangely subdued and soon the home supporters fell quiet. It began to dawn on us that Iran were not, after all, the Brazil of the Middle East. "They've wilted," sniffed Eamo at half-time.

With 15 minutes left, the home crowd began pouring out of the stadium. Once the attendance dipped below the 70,000 mark, Mark McCarthy's Barnsley accent rung reassuringly across the Azadi.

Onwards towards destiny but not before the required period of injury-time anguish. With an admirable sense of comedy, the Irish back four conceded a late goal to Iran's Yahya Golmohammadi.

We counted down the final seconds, waiting for sport's Grim Reaper to visit McCarthy yet again. But life is not so cruel. The big man's finest hour came to pass and we gazed on as he stood against a wall under the Azadi, tears in his eyes.

"The 'ard man's gone soft, eh? What do you expect? We've waited a long time. Wonderful group of players, fabulous staff and they deserve it."

Back in studio, Billo smiled like it was Italia '90 again and Eamo and John paid solemn homage to McCarthy. In Tehran, Ian Harte made his way in from the flying bottles that provided happy reminisces of our last qualifying night in Belfast in 1993. "Looking forward to getting back to the party," he declared.

It has been a long time coming and worth the wait.