Ireland have set the dates for two international friendlies this season. The Republic will play Finland on November 15 and Denmark on February 28. Both matches will be played at Lansdowne Road.

Ireland have played Finland three times in their history - the last game, in 1990, finishing 1-1 at Lansdowne Road with Kevin Sheedy scoring the Irish goal.

You have to go back to 1949 for the other two meetings against the Finns. They were World Cup qualifiers and Ireland won the first leg 3-0 at Dalymount Park before drawing 1-1 in Helsinki.

Finland are a different proposition now with the likes of Yari Litmanen, Sami Hyypia and Mikael Forsell in their team. They will be a good test for Mick McCarthy's men as they push towards qualification for the World Cup finals in 2002.

But an even better test will be set by Denmark. Even though they flopped at Euro 2000 Ireland always find it hard to beat them.

Their style of play has been a stumbling block for the Irish since our last win in 1979. Four games since, all in World Cup qualifiers, have only yielded two draws and two defeats.

En route to the World Cup finals in the USA in 1994 Ireland travelled to Copenhagen and earned a 0-0 draw. That was the day Roy Keane came of age in international football.

In the return leg at Lansdowne, the Danes took a shock lead but a flick header from Niall Quinn saved a point and ultimately earned Ireland passage to America.