After Senegal's opening day defeat of champions France on Friday, Cameroon's German manager, Winfried Schafer, must have been in buoyant mood as he set off with Africa's champions on Saturday for Niigata and a clash with one of European football's lesser lights.

After the game, he was still a little unsure about the moment that he had started to realise things would not be going to plan. Through most of his team's bus journey to the city's spectacular Big Swan stadium, he recalled, he had been concerned by the subdued mood of players who normally sing and dance to relieve the tension that comes with the build-up to an important match.

And later, when the second half started and it quickly became apparent that the African side's first-period dominance had entirely evaporated, he admitted to having been surprised that his efforts from the sideline to change their approach in attack went persistently unheeded.

But even that must have seemed bearable compared with what was to follow.

Travel arrangements, you might have gathered by now, are not the Cameroon FA's strong suit and shortly after the end of a game in which he and his players clearly felt they had dropped two points, Schafer and his players were obliged to board a scheduled Shinkansen fast train for Tokyo for the first leg of a prolonged journey back to their training camp at Fuyiyoshida.

Aside from the squad, the train was largely populated by Irish fans, hundreds of them merrily celebrating their team having taken a point from a game that, through its first 45 minutes, had looked hopelessly one-sided.

The singing, of course, would have been interrupted at regular intervals by news of yet another German goal up in Sapporo. Somehow, it seems safe to assume that no one need ask the 52-year-old ever agin what his vision of hell is.

Schafer said that he had been hoping that a last-minute reprieve for Roy Keane would cause "turmoil" in the Irish camp.

As it was, he observed, "the Irish played as if they felt an extra duty to do well without him".

If so, then it took Mick McCarthy's half-time chat to get them to act on it. Up until then, they been run ragged by a side whose strength, athleticism and vastly superior movement, on and off the ball, made them look likely to win pretty easily.

Crucially at half-time, however, there was only Patrick Mboma's 40th-minute goal to show for a spell in which his side had overrun both flanks and looked capable of scoring with every venture forward. Had Samuel Eto'o beaten Shay Given in an early one-on-one things might have turned out very differently, but the goalkeeper, once again, made a vital save when it counted.

He was fortunate not to have to do a lot more early on, as his central defence was obviously struggling. Both Steve Staunton and Gary Breen were having problems coping with the speed and aerial strength of the African attack and, on several occasions, the pair must have been desperately relieved to be spared by the poor quality of their opponents' finishing.

The ease with which African wing backs were getting forward was a particular problem for the Irish. Having apparently picked up another knee injury early on, Jason McAteer seemed incapable of making the required contribution defensively, while Ian Harte, long before he too took a knock, was another man having a game to forget.

The left back was just the first of many Irish players to be suckered for Cameroon's goal, though, with Harte venturing forward to pressure Geremi and then getting caught as the Real Madrid defender slipped the ball into the space left behind for Eto'o to run on to.

Staunton rushed to cover the threat, but the young striker nutmegged the Irishman as he turned goalwards. Both Given and Breen then committed themselves to preventing a shot, only to be bypassed as the ball was pushed past them for Mboma who fired home from no more than six yards, despite last-ditch efforts by Matt Holland and Gary Kelly to block his shot.

Holland had been Ireland's strongest performer during that difficult first half, with the 28-year-old assuming a huge amount of responsibility in the centre of the field.

The inability of McAteer, Mark Kinsella or Kevin Kilbane to make any sort of offensive impact had left Damien Duff and Robbie Keane looking hopelessly stranded and ineffective.

A couple of set-pieces produced a couple of half-chances, the best being a header by Keane that hopped harmlessly wide of the right-hand post, but, for the most part, the Irish were - just as they had against the Dutch in Dublin - riding their luck against a much better looking team.

The sort of character shown that day in September was again to prove their salvation, however. And, in Roy Keane's absence, Holland was the inspiration for a spirited second-half display.

Steve Finnan's arrival for McAteer made a difference, as did Steven Reid's later substitution for Harte, but of more critical importance was the reversal of fortunes in central midfield, where the Irish now dominated Marc-Vivien Foe and Lauren, and attack, where first Keane and then Duff sprang into life.

The pair's morale must have been helped by signs early in the second half that, when put under a little more pressure, neither Rigobert Song nor Bill Tchato were quite as composed as the team's defensive record this year might suggest.

Between them, Raymond Kalla was outstanding, completely dominating the area and always seeming to appear in the nick of time when trouble loomed for the promisingly erratic Boukar Alioum.

Not even Extremadura's giant centre back could entirely halt the resurgent Irish alone, though, and when Song recklessly headed a Harte pass meant for Keane across the edge of the box, Holland met the loose ball with a beautifully struck shot that sailed low past the goalkeeper and into the bottom left corner of the goal.

In the 27 minutes that remained, the possibility that Cameroon might grab a winner on the break never faded entirely, but they did not test Given again.

Ireland, on the other hand, threatened constantly and, six minutes from time, Keane might have grabbed the extra two points with a curling shot that came crashing back off the foot off the right-hand post.

Cameroon survived, but a game they had expected to win had ended with several of their stars admitting they had even been fortunate to get away with their point.

For their part, the Irish were disappointed not to have won the game, but, as they filed out of the dressing-room, McCarthy's side had the look of men who had won the day if not all of the points.

During their preparations for Wednesday's clash with Germany, that will count for something.

SUBSTITUTES

Republic of Ireland: Finnan for McAteer (46 mins); Reid for Harte (78). Cameroon: Suffo for Mboma (69).

YELLOW CARDS

Republic of Ireland: McAteer 30, Finnan 51, Reid 82.

Cameroon: Kalla 89.