The Irish started well enough and the defending champions must have been surprised at the amount of time it took to bring the game into their opposition's territory. But in the end a defensive nap and a fine piece of finishing by the player known to pose the greatest danger were enough to dent the Republic's hopes of reaching next week's semi-finals here in Toulon.

With the fear beforehand that the holders might overrun the Irish and put a few past Tranmere goalkeeper Joe Murphy on his under-21 debut, Don Givens might, for the best part of an hour, have been happy enough with way things went for his side at the Mayol Stadium last night. Afterwards, though, Givens said that having concluded early on that the Colombians were not the force he had expected, he was terribly disappointed by his own players' failure to take up the running.

"If we'd lost heavily to a very good side but played well then I wouldn't mind but that, for me was very disappointing," said the Ireland manager. "To be fair, there was nothing in the other game that would frighten the life out of you so we could still qualify. But one thing is for certain, if we keep playing like that we won't beat anybody."

Still, the Irish never looked like losing during the first hour or so and while they had been coming under much more pressure for a while by the time Malher Moreno scored the winner, the goal coincided almost perfectly with Givens's decision to try something more positive in attack. Just as Liverpool's Richie Partridge was about to enter the action the Colombians struck.

With the Irish defence looking on almost motionless, the big but agile Moreno, swept into the area with the ball at his feet after a fine passing move. He took only a couple of seconds with it but his quick swerve to the left combined with the absence of any serious attempt to close him down left Joe Murphy with little prospect of stopping the shot.

"I wasn't happy with the way they got to there," said Murphy afterwards "but when the striker got it he hit it well and there wasn't really anyway I was going to stop it".

It might have been worse. Twice Jimmy Asprilla, a cousin of Faustino, should have found the net before being replaced late on. Moreno could well have had a second and the defeat would certainly have been more severe had it not been for a couple of fine stops by Murphy. And then towards the end, and with the prospect of having to pick up four points from their remaining group games doubtless spurring them on, the Irish came close to salvaging something. Not long after Partridge's introduction, Richie Baker joined the action and the two wingers combined for Ireland's best chance of the evening. The Liverpool player's shot forced a good touch over from the Colombian goalkeeper.

As Partridge wandered away with his head in his hands he clearly knew that his team was unlikely to come as close again.

It was a rare moment of creativity by the Republic in a game that contrasted sharply with the 1-1 draw between Portugal and Ghana which preceded it. But Barry Quinn and James O'Connor did at least, as their manager had envisaged, dominate midfield while Gary Doherty won just about everything in the air even if neither he nor Graham Barrett benefited from it. That will have to change by Saturday when Ghana provide the opposition in Le Pontet. The Irish approach will certainly be more positive but if this tournament is not to be simply another chapter in the unhappy history of our participation at this level, then the result will have to be as well.

Republic Of Ireland: Murphy (Tranmere Rovers); Heary (Huddersfield Town), McGovern (Arsenal), Ferguson (Coventry City), Clarke (Stoke City); Rowlands (Brentford), O'Connor (Stoke City), B Quinn (Coventry City), A Quinn (Sheffield Wednesday); Barrett (Arsenal), Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur). Subs: Partridge (Liverpool) for A Quinn (63 mins), Baker (Shelbourne) for Rowlands (73 mins).

Colombia: Botero; Calle, Orozco, Mera, Palacio; Chara, Leal, Ferreira, Victoria; Asprilla, Moreno. Subs: Dominguez for Ferreira and Chitiva for Chara (73 mins), Perez for Asprilla (81 mins).

Referee: C Bolognino (Italy).