The luck of the draw

BBC Sport's Mark Lawrenson says there is room for optimism about the Republic of Ireland's chance of qualifying from the group stage at the World Cup.

I do not expect Mick McCarthy to say so publicly - he is far too shrewd for that - but the Republic of Ireland manager will be very pleased with the World Cup draw.

Germany, Cameroon and Saudi Arabia are all capable teams and will provide stiff opposition.

But when you compare these with England's group opponents - Argentina, Nigeria and Sweden - it's obvious that the Republic could have been dealt a much harder task.

Germany's team may not be the force it once was but they remain difficult to beat.

Etoo is a star for Cameroon

They are certainly a better team than most people in England seem to think following the 5-1 demolition in Munich.

Having said that, every unseeded team is going to come up against a big gun and compared to the likes of Argentina, Italy and France, I do not think Germany is too bad.

I am pleased the Republic have been drawn against Cameroon as opposed to Nigeria.

Cameroon do have some very good players - former West Ham midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe, Real Mallorca's rising star Samuel Etoo and Patrick Mboma - and World Cup pedigree.

But I do not think their current team is an equal of their 1990 counterparts who ran England so close in Italy.

Nigeria had the best qualifying record in Africa and I think Ireland will be pleased to have avoided them.

As for Saudi Arabia - I know next to nothing about them.

But at one stage it looked as though McCarthy's team would meet them in a World Cup qualifying play-off match and I am sure the manager knows a bit about them.

What does worry me is that people will look at the Republic's group and fancy the team's chances of qualifying.

I much prefer it when they are the underdogs because the Republic tend to have a tendency to shoot themselves in the foot when they are the favourites.

However, two teams qualify outright from each group and that is a massive boost to the team's chances of reaching the second round.

Let's not get carried away but I think the Irish will be pleased with the way things have gone so far.