Remember the last time Louis van Gaal was in charge of the Netherlands and didn’t qualify for the World Cup despite having Edgar Davids, Edwin van der Sar, Jaap Stam, Marc Overmars, Patrick Kluivert and Phillip Cocu, finishing four points behind an Irish side managed by Mick McCarthy, who then went on to break the record for the lowest points total in his next job at Sunderland? Holding Midfield remembers, so allow us to relive one of Ireland’s finest World Cup moments. The year was 2002, and the tournament was terrible. Like proper awful. And there’s a decent chance a few of the games were fixed. Regardless, still not out of primary school, I lacked the perspective to appreciate this. What the tournament lacked in quality play, it made up for in dramatic moments to capture the imagination of any new audience. Ever the borderline psychopath, Roy Keane had little time for this laissez-faire attitude towards football. Football is a game of pain and hardship and Ireland’s base in Saipan didn’t look enough like a medieval torture chamber for Keane – Ireland’s sole world class player left the squad, leaving only a scathing criticism of McCarthy and his set-up behind. […]
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