Funny, cruel, fickle game, all the same. There have been times during this World Cup qualifying campaign when Jason McAteer has been the first out of the Lansdowne Road dressing room after a game, no need for a shower because he's had 90 minutes of spectating from the bench, unused kit in the bag slung forlornly over his shoulder, heading to the airport to fly back to the gloomy uncertainty that is his English club existence these days.

The thing about Jason McAteer, though, is he would stop for a chat no matter what kind of hurry he was in, even if some of his surlier team mates wouldn't give you 30 seconds on their better days. Problem was, nobody wanted to chat with Jason. Jason Mc-A-Who? For much of the past year he's passed unimpeded through the scrum of post-match-quote-seekers who formed a tape-recorder-free channel for him to pass through, where only an ambush would greet Roy, Robbie and Niall.

Oft greeted, he's been, with embarrassed, lowered eyes, a few sympathetic 'howarya Jaces', but no requests for "a quick word".

Saturday? Jason McAteer is buried in a scrum of quote-seekers when he leaves the sanctity of that dressing room. Buried. Literally. You can just about see the crown of his head through the huddle of tape recorders. Richard Dunne appears at the same time. Richard Dunne versus Jason McAteer? Mmm, sorry Rich, you did great - but Jason's the man. He's somebody. Again.

If McAteer had any pride, you say to yourself, he'd tell us all to insert our tape recorders and notebooks where the sun seldom shines. He doesn't, though. Today Jason McAteer feels reborn, and on a day like this it's hard to find any acrimony within, no matter how deep you dig.

He looks weary, drained even. Kevin Kilbane has just told us that "Jace" was crying in the dressing room after the game. Jason McAteer? The has-been who ran himself in to the ground on Saturday before scoring the goal that beat Holland. Holland, mark you.

"Yeah, it was a beautiful moment. Surreal. It's something you dream about as a kid, scoring a goal on the world stage for your country. It doesn't get much better than that, it really doesn't. You score, you look at the crowd and you think: that's what it's all about, that's what it's all about. The crowd kind of suck you in and ... ah, a beautiful moment."

Was it a message to Graeme Souness? "Na. All today told me was what I knew all along, that I was good enough to play in that team. If he doesn't pick me that's his loss, not mine. I'm not going to start a war with Graeme Souness, I think he's a nice man ... out of football. I just don't think his man management has been good with me. I've proved to myself, more than anyone, than I'm quite capable of holding my own on a stage like today - and in the Premier League."

"Mick McCarthy's not only my manager but he's a close friend to me too and he's always shown his faith in me by picking me in the squad, he never forgets me even when it's not going right. Through one thing or another, I managed to get a start today. At the back of my mind the one thing I wanted to do was not let him down and when I scored it kept coming to me, 'I don't think I've let him down now, I don't think I've let him down'. It was a great moment for me." Ooops, there goes half of our back four through the tunnel. Never mind, Jason's still talking.

Blackburn? What's the story, Jace? "It's hard for me at the moment because I'm training with the reserves and then I come here and I'm training with players of this standard. No disrespect to the reserves but they're learning their trade, I'm 30 years old now so I'm a little bit past all that technique work. So when I come here and I'm mixing with the Roy Keanes and Robbie Keanes of this world it's a nice break, a nice change."

The future, Jace, the future? "I went to the World Cup with Jack Charlton and John Aldridge and Andy Townsend and all those players and it was absolutely fantastic. I never thought it would be quite the same when Mick took over but it's been fantastic and there's no one more deserves to go than him and our squad. They're a great bunch of lads, we're all very close, we love getting together and we love each other's time. To go to the World Cup again would be the icing on the cake. You always dream about going back, don't you?"

Back to the future Jace, back to the future.