A number of the players involved would go on to win full international caps, such as Richard Dunne, John O'Shea and Robbie Keane. In 1999, Ireland were knocked out of the World Youth Championships by hosts Nigeria on penalties in the quarter final. He again qualified Ireland for the 2003 World Youth Championships before taking up the position of manager of the senior national side. Republic of Ireland Senior Side The first two matches of Ireland's qualification campaign for the 2004 European Championships in Portugal ended in defeat. The first was a 4–2 reverse away to Russia and the second a damaging 2–1 defeat at home to Switzerland. Mick McCarthy, who several months previously had taken the team to the knock-out stages of the 2002 World Cup, came under mounting pressure from fans and pundits alike and he resigned on 5 November 2002. The Football Association of Ireland's (FAI) search for a successor took them past Peter Reid, Bryan Robson and Philippe Troussier and eventually led them to Kerr who was officially unveiled as Republic of Ireland manager on 26 January 2003. Despite the somewhat haphazard nature of his appointment (several leaks meant that most media outlets had been alerted as to the FAI's decision days in advance of the official announcement and Troussier was only notified of his failure to land the post after a member of the public phoned him to commiserate), Kerr was a popular choice for the position. His background in Irish domestic football and his record with the Irish youth teams at under-16 and under-18 level meant that he enjoyed considerable support from within the domestic game and commanded the respect of talents such as Damien Duff and Robbie Keane - players that Kerr had managed in that capacity. Kerr enjoyed a reputation as one of the finest youth coaches in the world and also had no connection to the Saipan controversy that had engulfed the Irish team at the previous year's World Cup which raised the possibility of a return to the squad for the talismanic Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane. Despite the positivity of his appointment, there were some who voiced doubts about his ability to manage at senior level. Kerr faced a daunting challenge. His brief to take Ireland to the European Championships was compromised by the fact that the opening defeats left the team at the bottom of Group 10. The