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Steve Coogan will play Mick McCarthy in a new film portraying the events of the Republic of Ireland manager’s bust-up with captain Roy Keane ahead of the 2002 World Cup.
Keane ended up leaving the Ireland camp before the start of the tournament in Japan and South Korea after a public falling out with McCarthy.
The pair were involved in a verbal altercation after Keane had given an interview to a newspaper bemoaning the preparation and facilities laid on by the Football Association of Ireland.
Keane had already been convinced to reconsider a decision to quit the squad only for the falling out to lead to the Manchester United midfielder leaving anyway.
‘Saipan’ – the Japanese island were Ireland were based – will tell the story of events leading up to Keane’s departure, with Alan Partridge star Coogan confirmed in the role of McCarthy.
It is being directed by Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa — the directing duo behind the 2019 romance ‘Ordinary Love’.
Keane will be played by BAFTA-nominated Eanna Hardwicke, with production due to start soon with a slated release date of next summer.
Hardwicke is best known for his role in The Sixth Commandment, the true story of how a young student called Ben Field gaslit and abused two neighbours, and murdered one. The show starred Timothy Spall as Peter Farquhar, a teacher and academic who in the early 2010s was duped into thinking Field (played by Hardwicke) was in love with him.
“A million words have been written about what happened on that fateful week in 2002 on the tiny island of Saipan,” said producers Macdara Kelleher and John Keville.
“Next year audiences will finally get to experience first hand the feud between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy and why it was labelled ‘the worst preparation for a World Cup campaign ever’.”
Without Keane, Ireland finished second after going unbeaten in Group E, including a last-gasp draw against Germany, before losing on penalties to Spain in the round of 16.
McCarthy resigned in November 2002 and Keane returned to the Ireland fold under his successor Brian Kerr but retired from international football after failure to help the nation qualify for the 2006 World Cup.
