Only a Euro victory would keep McCarthy in hot seat
It was the first time for McCarthy to pinpoint a retirement date and it will mark the end of an eight year term of substantial achievement. Ireland could put a fitting seal on his contribution by qualifying for the finals in Portugal in 2004.
McCarthy, who succeeded Jack Charlton as Ireland's manager in 1996, suggested that his identification of a closure date in an interview with The Guardian yesterday should not come as a surprise, that it was "old news".