KO’d by a shot they never saw coming MACA’S DUTCH STRIKE DREAM
any competent side could organise themselves into a compact shape and make it difficult.
“Ireland did precisely that. We missed chances. One ball rolled past the goalkeeper and then past the post.You had 10 men.
“We had five forwards.You had one chance.You scored, you won. Eight times out of 10, we would win a game like that.
“Sometimes you look beautiful on the pitch. Other times you grind deep to get a result.
“We knew Ireland would be more physical than technical but we also knew you were much more than a bunch of lads who kick and rush after the ball. Absolutely we had respect for you.”
Respect for the Ireland manager from the Ireland captain was non-existent, though.
You can see it in Lorraine
O’Sullivan’s memorable photograph, a moment frozen in time, as McCarthy’s outstretched hand is briefly held by Keane’s tattooed arm.
Staring at that image now - the manager smiling, his captain staring in the opposite direction — you can see the seeds of disengagement which would resurface in explosive fashion the following summer.
Animosity
Yet at the time no one knew the depth of Keane’s animosity, to the extent that this picture, the defining image of Irish football’s bitterest row, wasn’t printed in any of the following day’s newspapers.
“It is my most famous picture but certainly not my best one,” says O’Sullivan, who was blissfully unaware of the snap she had taken, as she was on her way to the U2 concert after the game.
In the pre-digital age, her roll of film was despatched back to the Inpho offices who then sent it on to the newspaper desks across the city. Not one paper used it for nine months.
“It was only when the row happened in Saipan that people became aware of it,” says O’Sullivan. Until then it had stayed in the archives, gathering dust.
“Even today people will ask me about that picture. You can see the coldness of the exchange from Keane’s perspective. Once the row happened, this image summed up the moment, the dislike on his part.
“Being honest, I didn’t know I had struck gold when I took the picture. If you see the video footage of the handshake, it’s a softer image. Keane smiles at McCarthy briefly.
“But the beauty of photography is you have a moment in time. I only got one image of the handshake and when no-one used it, it never crossed my mind why. Then came Saipan.”
But before then there was a concert to go to, O’Sullivan the photographer racing to Slane on her motorcycle, the Ireland players getting bussed down with a Garda escort flanking their every move.
Gary Kelly set the mood. Everyone else was hyper but Kelly had been red-carded, the only Irish player not to have enjoyed the experience.
“Kells was the life and soul of the place,” says Fallon, the kit man.“There was relief, evidently with him, but once the result was a good one, he made sure to be in a good mood. He was so resilient.
“That night, jeepers, it was one of the happiest ever for so many of us. Mick, Gary, Jason, Roy, the whole lot of us.
Family
“Those weeks and months, from beating the Dutch to qualifying in Iran, right up to Saipan, were the happiest of my life. The squad was like a family.
“And when I look back on it, when I remember all those smiling faces, the emotions we all felt when we qualified in Tehran, I’m telling you, I’d have kissed the Ayatollah and the Shah of Iran if they had come near me that night. It was so, so special.”
A beautiful day.
JASON McATEER has described his World Cup qualification winner against the Netherlands 22 years ago as his “perfect moment”.
The former Ireland star fired home the goal that sent the Boys in Green on their way to the 2002 finals – via a play-off against Iran.
“It was my perfect moment,” he told BoyleSports. “It was my moment and we held out, we won one nil which took us to a playoff and we qualified.”
McAteer (right) added: “You go through your career and you look back on it and some players unfortunately don’t have that one moment.
Blessed
“I was blessed to have had a couple of moments that I look back very fondly on.
“People say if you go back in time and do one again, which one would it be, and for me it would be that goal against Holland.”
Ireland kicked off that campaign with a tricky trip to Amsterdam, which ended in a 2-2 draw, while they also faced Portugal home and away.
“We were right up against it,” he said. “But like today’s team, their first game of the group was against France. It couldn’t have been a harder start for them.”