The Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy says that he can no longer be fazed by anything else that happens in the World Cup.
McCarthy says his first experience of a major championship finals is one that has showed him why so many managers and squads fall out with the press, the fans or each other.
He said: "In the last two World Cup competitions I laughed at the thought that 50 per cent of the managers or coaches went during or after the championships.
"I fully understand the reason why now. The whole thing is a goldfish bowl. There are pressures which aren't there normally. Every little thing becomes magnified.
"Coaches and players come under pressure for four weeks, and we are all living together for five or six weeks. It can be difficult."
But McCarthy said that even though the managers are often at the forefront of intense press attention, the players can often suffer most.
"It does test you certainly - let's see who comes out of the test at the end. I think the real test is about footballers - not about whether I can put up a shield.
"It is about the Irish international team and 31 other teams playing as well as they can and competing in the competition. That is all that matters at the end of it - how well the football teams do.
"I would hope I emerge a better manager for it. Every time you experience something new - something different, something difficult, something pleasurable, whatever it may be - throughout your career, you'll be able to deal with it a little bit better after you've sampled the delights of a World Cup.
"I had a meeting with the players, and the players decided they didn't want to sit on the bus to go to Ibaraki for an hour and then train and sit on the bus for another hour. I'm happy with that.
"We saw the stadium in Niigata. This will be similar; the pitch will be like a bowling green, the dressing-rooms you'll be able to eat off the floor, and it will be fantastic.
"I'm more than happy that the lads don't want to sit in the bus for two hours. I've no worries going down there tomorrow."
McCarthy said that while he would prefer a win against Germany, he was keener to avoid defeat against Rudi Voller's men.
"I'd take not being beaten. The key question is: Who are you playing? Are you playing the German national team that has won the World Cup three times or are you playing 11 German players on the pitch? There is a big difference in my mind.
"It is one of those games, when you get through to the World Cup finals and when you get drawn against Germany, because they've won it three times, it makes it a great occasion, a great game.
"The players have to see beyond all that and deal with the 11 players who are chosen to play. That is a different thought process altogether.
"The nervous element of playing in the World Cup finals, your first game in the competition, that's gone. We're here now; we've had a good result, a good performance - so those nerves have gone.
"But there will still be nerves before the game because there always is, and I used to prefer it myself if you felt that way. We all know what is at stake.
"The big teams don't always go out and turn it on. France played Senegal - and they apparently have got everything, every single detail down to the finest point - but they didn't play well and they got beaten in the first game.
"If I ever find that remedy to make sure my teams play at the top of their game I'll be a wealthy man."
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