McCarthy: Ireland has a chance

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IBARAKI, Japan (Reuters) -- Ireland's 1-1 draw with Germany on Wednesday gave it a chance of reaching the second round of the World Cup and showed it could cope with the myth surrounding the German team, Ireland coach Mick McCarthy said.

"It's a great result. We have given ourselves a chance," he added after his side scored a goal in the dying seconds to secure its second draw of the competition. "We're in with a shout."

German coach Rudi Voeller said the fighting Irish performance had forced him to revise his game.

"We never really freed ourselves from the pressure they applied on us. Getting the goal was inevitable, I guess," he added.

"We had an ideal start and at halftime we resolved not to give in to Irish pressure. It never worked out -- we were pushed far too deep and in the end we paid for it," he said.

Ireland drew 1-1 draw Cameroon in their first game in group E and now plays Saudi Arabia, which was thrashed 8-0 by Germany in its opening game.

"The German national team are a bit of a myth sometimes," McCarthy said of the three-times World Cup winners.

"With the greatest respect to them, I thought we could cope with that, so much so that we got the result that we deserved," he added.

"They have got good players, they are a very well-organised team but at least we have reeled them in a bit," he said.

Germany was still confident of qualifying for the second round.

"We still top the group and a win against Cameroon will take us through to the last 16," Voeller said.

"We have everything in our own hands. See how tomorrow's match goes and then prepare for our own match," he added, referring to Cameroon's match against Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

The players were not too downcast.

"We are still in a good position to qualify," goalkeeper Oliver Kahn said. "Like before we are still capable of beating almost any team, but when you do mistakes like we did on the equalizer you pay a high price for it."

Midfielder Michael Ballack agreed. "Of course we are disappointed. We can't say that Ireland did not deserve the draw. Our fate remains in our own hands. What we have to do now is pick the points we need in our last game," he said.

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