Armenia have emerged from basement boys to play-off contenders in the space of a remarkable two years, says an article in Irish Independent.

After finishing bottom of their World Cup group, Vardan Minasyan's side have grown up together into a formidable unit. With the majority of his key players in their early 20s, this is only the start of the adventure for the former Soviet state. In the short term, they will be giving Ireland headaches. But in the long term, they could be appearing on your television screens more frequently on a European stage, the article says.

Giovanni Trapattoni respects their ability, but refused to get too carried away in his praise either.

"They have good qualities," said the Ireland manager. "And they score goals. They like to shoot from distance, and they have a lot of confidence. However, I have trust that we can be superior and we have double marking on the pitch, which is important,” he said.

"We have played like this against important teams such as France, Italy and Croatia and we have to continue this. Armenia are not superior to some of the teams we have played against before like France. Our confidence lies in this."