Brothers in arms: Damien Duff (left) and Robbie Keane walk from the pitch at the end of Ireland's campaign

The danger is whether the much-improved performance against Italy gives Trapattoni the time and ammunition to stay on as manager. If he does, he won’t have the same players.

Defender Richard Dunne admitted he may be ready to call time on his international career. Shay Given, Robbie Keane and Monday night’s captain Damien Duff are ready to follow him.

Dunne said: ‘What difference can retirement make now? We have come and we are not good enough. It might be time if people want to retire to let young players come through.’

The third defeat of the finals, which equalled the records of Yugoslavia in 1984, Denmark in 2000 and Bulgaria in 2004, looks to have marked the end of an era for players unhappy with Trapattoni’s handling of the finals and their pre-tournament preparations.

Many were concerned with the intensive training camps in Ireland and Italy, which they never  recovered from as their exhaustion was evident during the pre-finals friendly in Hungary.

It has not helped that they faced a difficult group with top 10 teams Croatia and Italy, plus the world and European champions Spain, showing their quality by totally outplaying an Ireland side which had qualified via the play-offs.

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