The 2002 World Cup. Japan and South Korea are co-hosting and there’s excitement in the air. Republic of Ireland have qualified for a third World Cup out of four. After success getting out of the groups in 1990 and 1994, and with icons such as Robbie Keane, Damien Duff, and Shay Given, there was hope that Ireland could do something special again.
We all know about Roy Keane the pundit, and it doesn’t seem too far removed from Roy Keane the player or the person. He’s demanding, combative on the pitch and off it. And that level of commitment is what gets the very best players to the top. There was also always an issue for players who were playing for the top-level clubs that the same level of preparation they’d come to expect just wasn’t available at international level. This was definitely the case for Ireland in the 1990s, for Wales up until the 2010s, Scotland, and even England at certain points.
Since he’d first been called up to the national side under Jack Charlton, Keane had perceived a lack of standards from FAI officials, with poor travel arrangements, bad hotels, the diet of the players, and low expectations all rubbing him up the wrong way. Never really seeing eye-to-eye with Mick McCarthy and not rating him as a manager, along with these other issues, meant there was always something bubbling under the surface.
It boiled over big style before the World Cup.
The difference came down to what the island of Saipan represented to Ireland. For the management team, it was picked as a pre-tournament base where the players could relax after a long, hard season, train of course, but the real preparation would come when they moved to Japan. Keane saw it as the start of preparations, the place where the Irish players could get up to pace and not just head to the World Cup happy to be there, instead focusing on winning.
You can see both sides to this, and of course Mick McCarthy wanted Ireland to do well, but what didn’t help was that the choice of Saipan didn’t deliver what was needed at this level. Rock hard pitches, a lack of footballs (although this may not have been true), not the healthiest choice of food at the hotel, and an atmosphere that was maybe too relaxed. A spat that had been on-going for years came to a head just days before the World Cup. A slanging match in front of the other players and staff, leaked stories to the press, and pressure from all sides, led to Keane walking away not once, but twice during the trip. The second time for good.
Some players never get a chance to play in a World Cup and you want to make the most of it. Keane played in 1994, but he was a better player by 2002. Ireland hadn’t qualified for 1998 and this was a great chance to go further than the country had previously gone. Keane must definitely have regrets that he didn’t go.
Without Keane, the groups went very well. After a tough 1-1 draw against Cameroon, Ireland drew with giants of the international game Germany in the second match. A 92nd minute equaliser from Robbie Keane sending the fans wild in Kashima and around the world. A 3-0 victory over Saudi Arabia sending them through in second place and onto a last-16 match against Spain. Another late Robbie Keane equaliser, this time from the penalty spot in the 90th minute in Suwon, sent the match to a penalty shootout. We all know the pressure of a penalty kick, it all comes down to nerves, and Spanish heads prevailed. Spain would win 3-2 in the shootout and Ireland went home.
Would Roy Keane have made a difference to Ireland’s chances of going further? You’d certainly hope so. Ireland had a core of players playing at a good level, with a sprinkling of higher quality. Roy Keane had been the star for many years, one of the best midfielders on the planet for Manchester United. The drive for perfection that led to his falling out with McCarthy in Saipan is ultimately what made him the great player he was, and that surely would have made a difference in tight matches at the World Cup.
A 2025 movie ‘Saipan’, a dramatisation of the events surrounding the pre-World Cup training camp. Steve Coogan was maybe a little bit too short to play Mick McCarthy, but it was an enjoyable half-fiction, nonetheless.
These days, Roy Keane can be seen as a fiery pundit on matchdays for the Premier League, international football, and one of the regular podcast heads. That’s his job.
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