By Chris Roberts, PA Sport

Click here for Republic of Ireland v Cameroon report

In spite of all the well-documented problems of the past fortnight the Republic of Ireland made a good start to their World Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw with much-fancied Cameroon.

Here Chris Roberts looks how Mick McCarthy's men shocked the African nation without Roy Keane.

Defence: After an understandably shaky start Steve Staunton, Gary Kelly, Gary Breen and Ian Harte grew in confidence in front of reliable keeper Shay Given.

They took time to settle but they subdued the Cameroon attack in the second half.

In contrast, the Cameroon defence started brightly with Real Madrid's Geremi catching the eye but they looked vulnerable under pressure.

Midfield: Everyone was eager to see how the Republic coped without influential skipper Roy Keane in the centre of midfield.

But while they lacked style in the middle they made up for in hard work and Matt Holland went some way to ending the saga with a well-taken equaliser and impressive performance alongside Mark Kinsella.

Attack: Samuel Eto'o gave the Irish all kinds of problems during the first half and created the chance for Patrick Mbomba to score their opener.

But he faded as the game wore on and it was the Republic's Robbie Keane who began to impose himself.

The Leeds United striker made some threatening runs and also saw his late shot come back off the post.

As they grew in confidence the Africans looked vulnerable under pressure and the Irish were unfortunate not to snatch a dramatic late win.