The Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy has congratulated his England counterpart Sven-Goran Eriksson after the two managers made it into the last 16 of the World Cup finals.
The Yorkshire-born boss was delighted to see his homeland join his forefathers' own Ireland in the knockout phase after a goalless draw with Nigeria.
"I am pleased England went through, absolutely," said McCarthy.
"I think Sven is a top guy and I am happy he is doing well because I like him and he is one of my peers.
"I understand the pressure he is under, especially after the time I have had in the past two weeks, and I think England will have a chance.
"The fact England have progressed is good for the Premier League where all our lads play, because it makes it more vibrant."
Ireland's success in the tournament has brought about an unexpected perk in the form of a probable friendly with Japan.
The Irish team has attracted some of the highest attendances in the competition with 65,320 fans flocking to the International Stadium at Yokohama for the clash with Saudi Arabia.
Thousands of local fans clamoured to the venue of the final to support Ireland in their final group game, a 3-0 defeat of Saudi Arabia.
Among them was Mayor Nishio of Izumo, who was a charming host to the Irish when they spent a week in city on Japan's west coast. He flew to Niigata, then to Ibaraki and finally to Yokohama to support the Irish.
The upshot of his friendship to the Ireland team is that he extended an invitation to the Irish to re-visit Izumo after this World Cup.
He floated the idea of a match between Ireland and the Japan national team to FAI President Milo Corcoran, and negotiations to set it up will begin after the tournament.
Corcoran said: "Mayor Nishio does not hold a position in the Japan FA but he obviously is close to the officers and he is very keen on the idea.
"He wants to continue to develop relations between our two countries to embrace sporting, cultural and economic activities and we are certainly interested.
"We have no available date for an international this year because our programme is dominated by this World Cup and the European Championship that will kick-off at the start of the new season.
"But we would certainly be interested in a game next year. Japan are proving to be one of the most exciting teams in the competition here and with stars like [Hidetoshi] Nakata of Parma, [Shinji] Ono of Feyenoord and [Junichi] Inamoto of Arsenal emerging as international stars they would be very popular visitors.
"Our own youngsters are growing in reputation as well and the quality of the football that is being played by Damien Duff and Robbie Keane and their colleagues is drawing a lot of attention.
"Ireland's standing in the world game is growing by the day and we expect many opportunities to result from this World Cup."
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