Lee Carsley's 'selfish' stance on Roy Keane's Ireland World Cup meltdown
Roy Keane's infamous World Cup meltdown barely registered with new England interim boss Lee Carsley, who was part of the Ireland squad in Japan and South Korea
Lee Carsley was present for Roy Keane’s infamous World Cup meltdown – and saw it as an opportunity to break into the Ireland team.
The England interim head coach, who leads the Three Lions against the Irish in the Nations League on Saturday, and Keane were briefly team-mates at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. The Manchester United midfielder was his nation’s talisman, only to walk out on the squad on the eve of the tournament following a furious bust-up with manager Mick McCarthy.
That appeared to plunge Ireland’s campaign into chaos, although the incident barely registered with Carsley, who was laser-focused on his hopes of being selected. Reflecting on the row, which made headlines around the world, Carsley once said: “As a player, you’re so selfish. I probably wouldn’t have even noticed if Roy was happy or sad.
"A lot of the lads seem to have different recollections of how dramatic it was, depending on who they’re talking to! It’s just something that happened and that was it.”
Despite his disinterest in Keane’s absence, Carsley was thrown in front of the world’s media with fellow midfielder Jason McAteer the following day. He added: “The press conference the next day, it was me and Jason in front of the world’s press, with no prep. Nobody got prepped. Just crack on.
“It was obviously a big deal. But I probably saw it as another midfielder gone, I’ve probably got a better chance of playing.”
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While Carsley was unfazed by Keane’s walkout, McAteer has regularly criticised him over the years for leaving the team in the lurch. Former Liverpool midfielder McAteer told the Undr The Cosh podcast: “He decided to go home and left us to fend for ourselves. It put a lot of pressure on us.
“It became an absolute s***show. We couldn’t go out the hotel, the world’s media was on top of us. We were getting battered at home because the truth wasn’t coming out.
“The preparations weren’t great but the argument should be when you get home and have a debrief. He was at Man United with expectations – ‘this is how you do it’ – and I get it, but then wasn’t [the time] to fight. Him and Mick had personal differences anyway so that relationship was scorned already.”
Despite Keane’s absence, Carsley went on to make just one brief substitute appearance in the tournament as a late substitute in the 3-0 win over Saudi Arabia in the group phase. Ireland reached the last-16, where they lost to Spain on penalties.
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