An Ireland apart

Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy produced one of football's most dramatic stories when they ripped into each other in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in 2002 - now the saga is being retold in a new movie that hits the cinemas in January

- Words Chris Flanagan

Saipan. More than two decades on, one word is still enough to send a shudder down the spine of every Ireland fan. Few place names evoke such an instant reaction – within football, Saipan is only associated with one thing.

Some may not be able to identify it as the tiny capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, or point to it on a map, halfway between Papua New Guinea and Japan. But everyone in Ireland knows it as the far-flung place where Roy Keane and boss Mick McCarthy had the mother of all bust-ups ahead of the 2002 World Cup, leading to Keane's exit before the tournament had even begun.

Jason McAteer certainly remembers it. Together with the rest of the squad, he was in the room when McCarthy called out Keane over an interview the captain had given to a newspaper, criticising the Republic of Ireland's less-than-optimal training camp for the World Cup.

Together with the rest of the squad, McAteer witnessed it descend into a furious slanging match. Keane was livid when McCarthy appeared to question whether he was really injured when he missed the intercontinental playoff in Iran that secured Ireland's qualification, responding by calling the boss “a liar” and “a f**king wanker”. “I don't rate you as a manager and I don't rate you as a person,” Keane continued, before telling McCarthy to “stick your World Cup up your arse, you can stick it up your bollocks”. The Ireland manager responded by sending Keane home.