Wednesday 23 September 2015 19:46, UK
When Manchester United host Ipswich Town in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday it marks a rematch for Louis van Gaal and Mick McCarthy. With the help of Niall Quinn, Adam Bate looks back on the day in 2001 when McCarthy’s Ireland got the better of Van Gaal’s Netherlands in World Cup qualifying…
It's September 2001 and the mood is tense. A place at the World Cup is at stake and one goal separates the sides. Long balls are being lumped in the general direction of the penalty box. It's unsophisticated stuff but these are desperate times.
The location is Lansdowne Road and Mick McCarthy is overseeing proceedings from the dugout. But it's not Ireland resorting to the crude tactics. Louis van Gaal's Netherlands are the culprits. The result costs them a World Cup place and the coach his job.
Fourteen years on and the rematch beckons. McCarthy's Ipswich travel to face Van Gaal's Manchester United at Old Trafford. Once again, the Irishman is the underdog and the Dutchman is under pressure but Van Gaal will hope that's where the similarities end.
For many of his countrymen, he was the villain that day. Ireland had been reduced to 10 men when Gary Kelly committed one foul too many on Marc Overmars. But Steve Finnan had replaced him and swung in the cross from which Jason McAteer gave Ireland the lead.
There was time for the Dutch to find the goals they needed but the chance was squandered. Instead of stretching play, Overmars was substituted and they continued to look long to Patrick Kluivert, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Pierre van Hooijdonk with little success.
"Van Gaal reacted like I think most people do when they're struggling," McCarthy later told FourFourTwo. "They couldn't play through us and so started to use the aerial attack which we coped with. Looking back I couldn't have had a better group to keep a clean sheet."
Van Gaal agreed. "For Dutch football, this is a disaster. We had the chance to finish it off. You have to win, especially when you are playing 11 against 10. We had one more man in midfield. We had two good chances but thereafter played along with the game of the Irish."
Not that he was above an excuse or two. The poor condition of the pitch was mentioned as well as the noise in the stadium hampering communication with the players. Nevertheless, De Telegraaf declared it a "disgrace" and pointed to his "tactical blunders" instead.
I had the ambition of becoming world champion. But we didn't even make it to the tournament.
Former Oranje coach Leo Beenhakker suggested he look closer to home, while Marco van Basten questioned his suitability for the job. "I certainly have failed," said Van Gaal. "I had the ambition of becoming world champion. But we didn't even make it to the tournament."
Sky Sports pundit Niall Quinn came on as a late substitute not only to hold the ball up but to help repel the missiles being launched towards the Irish goalmouth. He has rather fonder memories of the day and adds weight to the argument that panic set in among the Dutch.
"It was exactly what we wanted," Quinn told Sky Sports. "What we didn't want was those fast Dutch forwards running at our defenders down the channels and exposing their pace. But when the nerves get to people it just gets worse and worse.
With the anxiety among the Dutch players to get that goal, they rushed things. It was fright. You could see it in them.
"I'm sure Louis van Gaal has been reminded of this many times but he put all his strikers on and didn't take any off. With the anxiety among the Dutch players to get that goal, they rushed things. It was fright. You could see it in them. They got wound up by the occasion."
Ironically given the subsequent deterioration of his relationship with McCarthy and his status as a Manchester United legend, it was the performance of Roy Keane that did much to ensure the current United boss's first reign in charge of his country ended in failure.
"The game changed after five minutes when Roy Keane tackled Overmars," added Quinn. "The old Lansdowne roar went up, better than any goal. The crowd realised what had happened. This was Roy stamping his authority on the midfield.
"The other players reacted and suddenly it was game on. I was on the bench but I was enthralled by the spectacle. The real hero that day was Roy Keane. He gave that Dutch midfield a hard time, shall we say.
The real hero that day was Roy Keane.
"He was aggressive and he was physical but he also wanted the ball. He demanded it from people in tight areas and took control of the game. He dominated that midfield. I think it was Roy's finest hour in an Ireland shirt."
Ireland would go on to defeat Iran in a play-off to confirm their place at the 2002 World Cup. Events in Saipan, when Keane left the squad on the eve of the tournament, might have overshadowed the achievement for some, but the memory of that day in Dublin remains.
"I'm grateful that I'll always have those memories," added Quinn. They're memories Mick McCarthy will relish rather more than Louis van Gaal when the two men meet again at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
