McCarthy has a ball

Mick McCarthy has warned that goalkeepers face a tougher task than usual at the World Cup finals, after his Republic of Ireland team trained with the new FIFA regulation footballs today.

A new, lighter ball is being used at the finals in Korea and Japan which is set to fly faster and bend and bounce more.

The Republic are acclimatising on this Western Pacific island and when they trained this morning McCarthy noticed the difference the ball made.

‘‘The balls are very lively,’’ said McCarthy. ‘‘They fly around and bounce far more.

‘‘They will be difficult to deal with, especially for goalkeepers facing shots and free kicks which zip around.

‘‘This is a World Cup with the best players in the world, so shots will be flying in from all over the place from some of the best strikers of a ball.

‘‘From free-kicks around the box the ball will fly and bend and bounce - it is very lively.

‘‘Technology moves on all the time and the balls are getting lighter and quicker.

‘‘Someone told me how a certain ball travels nought-point-something of a second quicker, and that makes a hell of a difference for the goalkeeper trying to save it - that is why we are all practising with this ball.

‘‘But at least we are all using the same ball and we all get the same benefit from it.’’

Jason McAteer and Matt Holland - who sat out training yesterday with ankle knocks - both joined in today’s session.

Meanwhile, McCarthy has again highlighted the advantages of spending just under a week on this tiny tropical island.

He said: ‘‘It is quite nice to be anonymous almost, because nobody is really bothered about the World Cup here.

‘‘I watch Roy Keane walking around and he is not signing autographs every 10 seconds like he is at home and everywhere else we go.

‘‘The locals might like their football but it is not a big story us being here, there is no hype that will come when we get to Japan.’’