Matt Holland’s leveller against Cameroon at the 2002 World Cup wasn’t only a thing of beauty – it really mattered.

“We hadn’t played that well during the first half and went in 1- 0 down,” recalls the former Republic of Ireland midfielder of that group game in Niigata. “The motto for our tournament, and what we had written on placards inside the dressing room, was ‘ No regrets’. Mick Mccarthy walked in at half- time and said, ‘ What have we been going on about this whole time?’ We went out in the second half and really got at Cameroon.”

Although the Boys in Green were playing better, the equaliser came about somewhat fortuitously. “Kevin Kilbane put in an absolutely terrible cross,” laughs Holland. “It was straight at the centre- half, but he made a mess of it. I was 25 yards out and had a few options, but there was only one thing on my mind because it fell to me nicely.

“I didn’t have to overly strike it – I just needed to get good contact. I hit it as sweetly as I could, and as the ball came off my foot I thought, ‘ That’s in’. Sometimes you know straight away. It was right in the bottom corner.”