Mick McCarthy was appointed manager of Ireland after Charlton narrowly missed out on guiding Ireland to the Euro 96 Finals in England. On an emotional night which would be Charlton's final game in charge, the Irish succumbed to a two nil defeat at the hands of the Dutch in a playoff. The team was now in transition, an ageing team had to make way for youth, and a long ball game had to make way for the now worldwide pass and move philosophy. It was McCarthy's job to steady the ship and build on past successes. Unfortunately his immediate impact did not have a desired result. The Irish failed to qualify for the next two Tournaments, the World Cup in France 1998 and the Euros in Belgium and the Netherlands 2000. With some dismal performances in both qualifying campaigns although again narrowly missing out on both tournaments it was a disheartening period in Irish football until qualification for the World Cup in 2002.

In a qualification table including Portugal and Holland the Irish showed the fighting spirit of the previous era. With a mixture of some old stalwarts and youthful exuberance the team were not overawed. They finished the group in second place with the same points as winners Portugal and advanced to the World Cup Finals after a playoff with Iran. The qualification featured probably the greatest game ever played at Lansdowne Road not for flair or a flurry of goals but for drama. This game was against the Dutch, a nerve wracking nail biting match that no one who was there or who just watched in the pubs around the country will ever forget. To set the scene, the Dutch needed to win the game in order to keep their hopes alive, the Irish could not afford to lose. The Dutch team was filled with the superstars of the day, the De Boer brothers, Van Der Sar, Kluivert, Stam, Davids, Van Nistelrooy, and Seedorf. The Irish were underdogs with a capital 'U'. They had managed a 2-2 draw away from home against the Dutch, a remarkable result but could they really prevent the Dutch from reaching the World Cup Finals?

If the Irish did not believe they didn't show it spurred on by the best midfielder in the world Roy Keane, he did not let the Dutch breathe never mind pass the ball, undoubtedly his greatest performance in a green jersey. It may have been this over exuberance that caused the only moment of silence at that game, the moment Gary Kelly received a red card. Marc Overmars had been running rings round Kelly in the first half leading the Irish man to be yellow carded, the second half began as the first and thirteen minutes in a reckless tackle on Overmars again, saw Kelly see his second yellow of the game followed by the dreaded red. The Irish fans were disheartened but not silenced, the team were holding on to a nil all draw although the Dutch had missed chance after chance, it seemed only a matter of time. Shay Given was lucky not to concede a penalty when he seemed to bundle over Van Nistelrooy who surely would have been left with a simple tap in.

However a moment came that few are privileged enough to see in a football match. In the 67th minute Ireland for the first time in the half broke forward in numbers, Roy Keane led the charge, was strong on the ball, fouled, the ball breaks to Duff, ref waves play on, he spreads the ball wide to Finnan, he attacks Cocu down the right, forced to check back onto his left, crosses to the far post, and somehow it breaks to an unmarked Jason McAteer who on the half volley slots the ball past an imposing Van Der Sar. What a moment and the Lansdowne roar was never heard so loudly. For 23 and a bit minutes Ireland defended for their lives, eventually seeing out a one nil win. When the final whistle blew the Irish fans broke into a chorus of 'Ten Men and we beat the Dutch', few wanted to leave that stadium that day, even the Dutch fans, who played their part in the remarkable atmosphere, applauded as they had witnessed something special.

The 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan got off to an auspices start. After a qualification campaign of mainly highs the World Cup before it even started brought a great low. The Irish team had shown great unity, determination and spirit which was characterised in the Dutch match, a training camp in Saipan brought disunity, and tore through the heart of the team literally. A training ground bust up involving Roy Keane and some of the coaching staff was blown out of all proportions. A critical article in an Irish newspaper from Keane and a team meeting which seems to have been a shambolic bit of man management from McCarthy resulted in the man considered to be the best midfielder in the world, Roy Keane being sent home. The world's media attention was on the Ireland team now but for all the wrong reasons. Everyone had an opinion on this issue and the players, the media and the fans were split into two camps, those who believed McCarthy was right to send Keane home and those who supported Keane in his comments on the Irish set up. Keane had stated that the Irish lacked professionalism in every aspect of their preparation for the World Cup, obviously more heated exchanges occurred behind the scenes which led to Keane's dismissal. Although politicians were even called in to resolve the issue Keane remained in his Manchester home and Ireland began the World Cup without their best player.

Whatever people may say about what happened in Saipan and many have and will continue to have their say it is evident that both men should have been able to resolve any personal differences they had for each other for the more important matter at hand.

The Irish faced Cameroon in the first match of the group stage. A strong physical team Cameroon imposed themselves on the game from the first whistle. Up front they had Samuel Etoo leading the line and his break down the right hand side of Ireland's defence led to the opening goal. He skipped passed Staunton leaving him on his backside, entered the penalty area and squared the ball to Mboma who placed the ball into the gaping goal. Ireland managed to reorganise themselves and snatched an equaliser in the second half, a crisply struck shot from Matt Holland (Keane's replacement) from outside the box nestled into the bottom right hand corner of the net. An opening draw in the campaign and some relief that the team had not capitulated under the undue pressure that had preceded the match.

Next up were the ever resilient Germans. The Germans although lacking the skills of previous teams could never be written off. In the 19th minute they took the lead with a Klose goal. However after they went one nil up Germany sat back and tried to sit on their lead. In a poor game, but another determined performance saw Ireland snatch an equaliser in the 92nd minute. A long ball up to Niall Quinn (reminiscent of the old days), headed into the box and latched on to by Robbie Keane who slots the ball into the corner of the net. Another memorable moment as Ireland now just needed to beat Saudi Arabia to qualify for the next round.

In the third match of the group they did just that. With a few nervous moments at the beginning of the game Ireland went on to win the match 3-0 with goals from Robbie Keane, Gary Breen and Damien Duff. They may not have been at their best against the Saudis but the result saw them progress to the Second Round.

The Second Round was a mouth watering tie with Spain. The Spaniards had started the Finals brightly with three wins from three and most were comfortable, 3-1 on two occasions. So when Fernando Morientes headed in after only eight minutes things looked bleak. However the Spanish began to sit back and the Irish threw everything they had at the Spanish defence. There were signs of the defence creaking under the pressure and it did just that in the 62nd minute, Damien Duff fouled in the area, penalty. Up stepped Ian Harte... Casillas saves. The luck of the Irish seemed to be running out until the unlikeliest of events transpired, in the ninety second minute Robbie Keane was brought down in the box, another penalty. This time up stepped Robbie Keane...GOAL!

The match ended 1-1 and extra time got under way. With further twists Spain ended that game with nine men on the pitch not through ill discipline but injury. Although Ireland looked the more likely they could not press home their two man advantage. This would be a fatal error as the penalty shootout resulted in a win for Spain. Yet again the Irish had given it their all and their supporters admired them for it.