Danes and Swiss remain teams to beat, says McCarthy

International football doesn’t ravage the energy reserves as relentlessly as the domestic English game in which Mick McCarthy was so long immersed but the Republic of Ireland manager is clearly looking forward to the summer recess.

An intense period that included a camp in Portugal and games away to Denmark and at home to Gibraltar only ended for him yesterday at the University of Limerick with the launch of the Uefa Euro 2020 National Football Exhibition.