The captain’s 2002 exit was the subject of more hand-wringing and tomfoolery than almost any incident before or since in modern Irish life. Perfectionist or traitor? The jury’s still out
“He came. He saw. He went home.” So ran the tag-line of the Irish box office smash hit comedy I, Keano, an epic musical melodrama about a Roman legion preparing for war. It was inspired by a real-life melodrama of even more epic proportions: arguably the most fractious falling-out in the history of Irish sport, a gripping and often amusing controversy prompted by Roy Keane’s contentious departure from the Republic of Ireland World Cup squad in 2002.
The captain’s headline-grabbing exit from the squad briefly transformed the tiny western Pacific island of Saipan into the most famous places on Earth. It made a cute and goofy Labrador puppy named Triggs into a household name. It was the source of more pompous pontification in the bars of the British Isles than any number of budgets, general elections and scandals. It practically sundered a nation, driving it to the brink of something approaching civil war and prompted the Taoiseach (prime minister) of the day to offer his services as a mediator. It became the subject of more hand-wringing sanctimony and general tomfoolery than almost any incident before or since in modern Irish life. It was all about standards. Roy’s standards. Depending on your point of view they were either too high or not high enough. Was Roy the perfectionist who wanted the best for his country or the traitor who abandoned it? In Ireland, 16 years on, the jury remains out.
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