Deadly Duff decimates Spanish inquisition

AS the Irish media scrum around Gaizka Mendieta to grab a word or two of his broken English, somebody asks him about Damien Duff.

"He is a great player, one of the great players in the World Cup," Mendieta remarks candidly, and on an evening when most Spaniards refused to acknowledge they were lucky to remain in the World Cup, this is noteworthy praise.