A new film is set to be released detailing Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy’s infamous falling out ahead of the 2002 World Cup.
It led to the Manchester United legend sent home from Republic of Ireland’s training camp prior to the tournament, with the ‘Saipan incident’ shocking Irish football.
Keane was going into the World Cup – which was co-hosted by Japan and South Korea – as his country’s captain.
And having been of the view that their preparations weren’t up to scratch, he launched a foul-mouthed tirade at manager McCarthy at their training base on the Pacific island of Saipan.
Now, according to Variety, their heated bust-up will be portrayed in a new feature, titled ‘Saipan’, with upcoming Irish actor Eánna Hardwicke to play Keane.
Meanwhile, two-time Academy Award nominee Steve Coogan – famous for his role as Alan Partridge – will play McCarthy.
A theatrical release is planned for next summer, with the film to show the events in the week leading up to the controversial moment.
Discussing the project, producers Stephen Kelliher and Sophie Green said: “A million words have been written about what happened on that fateful week in 2002 on the tiny island of Saipan.
“Next year, audiences will finally get to experience firsthand the feud between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy and why it was labeled ‘the worst preparation for a World Cup campaign ever.'”
Directors Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn added: “We’re thrilled to be working with this extraordinary cast and creative team to tell the story of an infamous moment in Irish and football history.
“[It] drew battle lines across a nation, cast its hopes, dreams and sense of identity into disarray, and briefly made a tiny volcanic island in the Pacific one of the most famous places on earth.”
Despite Keane’s absence, Ireland impressed at the World Cup, where they drew with Cameroon and Germany, before thrashing Saudi Arabia in Group E.
But they were knocked out in heartbreaking fashion by Spain in the last 16 after losing penalties following a 1-1 draw in normal time.
McCarthy has not been shy in discussing his fallout with Keane, as he told talkSPORT in 2020 that it led to one of the loneliest moments he experienced in football.
Meanwhile Clinton Morrison, who was part of the World Cup squad, told talkSPORT host Jim White in 2019 how Keane and McCarthy almost came to blows.
He stated: “Roy wants things done professionally, he was at Manchester United and he said when it comes to the World Cup, he wanted things done properly.
“But the first day we got to Saipan was a nightmare. Our kit went missing and the training facilities were not the best.
“If Roy waited a day, we went to a place called Chiba [near Tokyo, Japan] and it had the best facilities, the pitch was like a carpet. But he’d lost his head the day before, he’d gone mad.”
Morrison continued: “Roy had obviously had a moan [to the press] about the facilities, and Mick said: ‘I told you not to do any interviews, so why have you done this?’
“Roy said: ‘I did an interview because I wanted to. The set-up, the surroundings, they have not been good enough’.
“They started arguing. I’m thinking, hang on a minute, our best player, the best player Ireland have probably produced for many, many years is there arguing with the manager and the whole squad is watching it.
“He said to Mick: ‘You were a bad player anyway, you had a rubbish first touch and you’re a poor manager. The only manager I respect is Sir Alex Ferguson‘.
“Then he said: ‘And you’re English, you’re not even Irish!’
“As soon as he said that, I think most people who were born in England put their head under the table. I know I did. I was thinking, please don’t come for me!
“I don’t know if it would have come to blows, but Roy was steaming!
“I think Mick could have done it in a different way, spoke to him one-on-one, because Roy was always ready to blow back then, always fighting things and always ready to go into one.
“They got separated and Roy stood there and said: ‘Go on, Mick. What are you going to do? Make a decision.’ So he had to send him home.”