After 24 years, countless news reports, nationwide controversy and divided loyalties, the Irish soccer film Saipan has lifted the lid on the happenings of 2002.
The film covers the story of the Republic of Ireland’s 2002 FIFA World Cup which saw captain Roy Keane leave before the tournament even started after a feud with manager Mick McCarthy.
Roy Keane, played by Eanna Hardwicke, and Mick McCarthy, played by Steve Coogan reenact the scenes of 2002 which still create headlines and spark debate in Ireland and abroad to this day.
The Irish team had a three week stop off in Saipan prior to the FIFA World Cup taking place in Japan and South Korea.
As portrayed by Hardwicke, Keane felt unhappy about the conditions and poor preparations while the team was stopped off in Saipan, with poor pitch surfaces, delayed arrival of training supplies, and below-par nutrition disgruntling the then Manchester United midfielder.
McCarthy for much of the film tried to keep Roy on side, but the two figures locked horns on a number of occasions, in an ever intensifying situation in the sweltering Asian heat.
The whole fiasco came to a head when a team meeting was called by the manager, in which Keane was questioned in front of his teammates by McCarthy about missing the Iran game months earlier, and further investigated about whether he had faked an injury.
Keane then berated McCarthy, questioning his Irishness and voicing his lack of respect for him in front of all of his players.
Roy then stormed out of the room, and subsequently flew back home to Manchester.
I can only imagine what a tough watch it might be for those who are unlucky enough to remember Saipan unfolding, from the daily news bulletins updating worried onlookers back home, to the infamous RTÉ interview with Tommie Gorman in which Keane cemented his stance on the incident after a whirlwind few days.
McCarthy also spoke to the media in the aftermath, telling them that he couldn’t accept how Keane had spoken to him during the team meeting, portrayed as a much more calm figure throughout the film.
The film incorporates a range of elements to make the actors seem like the real thing, with a number of news reports and interviews used from the time with Keane and McCarthy, along with some of the other players and figures who would’ve been involved in the Irish set up in that era.
Despite the piece being based on real events, much of the scenes and characters were either exaggerated or imaginary.
For example, Dickie Moloney, played by Jamie Beamish, played a key figure in the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) at the time.
And despite him being fictional, there was a sense that he personified everything Roy Keane was unhappy about throughout the film: the party culture, golf trips and treating their Saipan stop off like a holiday.
Following on from the feud and Roy’s departure, the media were asking people their thoughts, and the nation was utterly divided.
What side were you on?
Did you feel that Roy Keane had abandoned his country and as a captain figure he should’ve shown more leadership?
Or did you believe that he was perfectly justified in his actions, with McCarthy to blame for the poor pitch conditions and lack of training equipment?
However you may feel about it, what doesn’t often get spoken about is that the Irish team reached the last 16 of the competition, only losing out to Spain on penalties after the game ended 1-1 after full-time.
It is very hard to know if the squad would’ve progressed much further had Keane been in the squad.
But what we do know is that 2002 is the last time the Republic of Ireland managed to qualify for the competition, with a certain dark cloud hovering over the subject since then.
Could this be the year that the Irish make a return to the world stage for the FIFA World Cup 2026?
