Football World Cup 2002 / Ireland
The Irish national football team at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea :
qualification
Ireland had drawn as group opponents Portugal, the Netherlands, Estonia, Cyprus and Andorra. Since only the first in the group qualified directly and the second had to play a deciding game, the chances of participating in the World Cup were extremely poor. Portugal and the Netherlands were considered high favorites.
At the beginning there was a surprising away draw against the Netherlands, who once again took a qualifying game lightly. It was almost a sensation when the next away game against Portugal ended in a draw. Suddenly a qualification no longer seemed impossible. The next games were won against the easy opponents Estonia, Cyprus and Andorra according to the program. The Dutch, on the other hand, suffered a home defeat against Portugal.
The Irish laid the foundations for their third participation in the finals after 1990 and 1994 on June 2, 2001 with another draw against Portugal. A few weeks later they won 1-0 at home with a strong fighting performance against the Netherlands. The second place in the table was reached. Only because of the better goal difference Portugal came first.
In the playoffs Ireland had to play against Iran, where they just prevailed.
rank | country | Gates | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Portugal | 33: 7 | 24 |
2 | Ireland | 23: 5 | 24 |
3 | Netherlands | 30: 9 | 20th |
4th | Estonia | 10:26 | 8th |
5 | Cyprus | 13:31 | 8th |
6th | Andorra | 5:36 | 0 |
Netherlands | - | Ireland | 2: 2 | |
Portugal | - | Ireland | 1: 1 | |
Ireland | - | Estonia | 2-0 | |
Cyprus | - | Ireland | 0: 4 | |
Andorra | - | Ireland | 0: 3 | |
Ireland | - | Andorra | 3: 1 | |
Ireland | - | Portugal | 1: 1 | |
Estonia | - | Ireland | 0: 2 | |
Ireland | - | Netherlands | 1-0 | |
Ireland | - | Cyprus | 4-0 |
Playoff:
Ireland | - | Iran | 2-0 | |
Iran | - | Ireland | 1-0 |
Irish contingent
No. | Surname | Club before the start of the World Cup | birthday | Games | Gates | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
goalkeeper | |||||||||
1 | Shay Given | Newcastle United | 04/20/1976 | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
16 | Dean Kiely | Charlton Athletic | 10/10/1970 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
23 | Alan Kelly | Blackburn Rovers | 08/11/1968 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Defender | |||||||||
2 | Steve Finnan | Fulham FC | 04/24/1976 | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
3 | Ian Harte | Leeds United | 08/31/1977 | 4th | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
4th | Kenny Cunningham | Wimbledon FC | 06/28/1971 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
5 | Steve Staunton | Aston Villa | 01/19/1969 | 4th | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
14th | Gary Breen | Coventry City | 12/12/1973 | 4th | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
15th | Richard Dunne | Manchester City | 09/21/1979 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
18th | Gary Kelly | Leeds United | 07/09/1974 | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
20th | Andy O'Brien | Newcastle United | 06/29/1979 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
midfield player | |||||||||
6th | Roy Keane (Suspended) | Manchester United | 08/10/1971 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
7th | Jason McAteer | Sunderland AFC | 06/18/1971 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
8th | Matt Holland | Ipswich Town | 04/11/1974 | 4th | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
9 | Damien Duff | Blackburn Rovers | 03/02/1979 | 4th | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
11 | Kevin Kilbane | Sunderland AFC | 02/01/1977 | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
12 | Mark Kinsella | Charlton Athletic | 08/12/1972 | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
21st | Steven Reid | Millwall FC | 03/10/1981 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
22nd | Lee Carsley | Everton FC | 02/28/1974 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
striker | |||||||||
10 | Robbie Keane | Leeds United | 07/08/1980 | 4th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
13 | David Connolly | Wimbledon FC | 06/06/1977 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
17th | Niall Quinn | Sunderland AFC | 06.10.1966 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
19th | Clinton Morrison | Crystal Palace | 05/14/1979 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Trainer | |||||||||
Mick McCarthy | 02/07/1959 |
Preliminary round
There was already some excitement in Ireland before the tournament. The star and captain of the team Roy Keane repeatedly criticized the association for its organizational achievements and was subsequently suspended.
After Ireland had drawn in their first two group matches against Cameroon and Germany, the round of 16 was within their grasp. A 2-0 win against the weak Saudis would be enough. Ireland had never won a World Cup game by more than one goal difference, but Saudi Arabia were not serious opponents. The Irish won 3-0 and finished second in Group E behind Germany.
Play Ireland in the preliminary round | ||
date | encounter | Result |
June 1st | Ireland - Cameroon | 1: 1 |
June 5th | Germany - Ireland | 1: 1 |
June 11th | Saudi Arabia - Ireland | 0: 3 |
Final score group E | |||
rank | country | Gates | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Germany | 11: 1 | 7th |
2 | Ireland | 5: 2 | 5 |
3 | Cameroon | 2: 3 | 4th |
4th | Saudi Arabia | 0:12 | 0 |
Round of 16
Ireland's opponent was the winner of Group B, Spain. Besides Brazil, the Spaniards were the only ones to win all the preliminary round matches and were considered favorites. With Raúl and Morientes they had world class players in their squad.
Spain took the lead in the eighth minute. Ireland fought doggedly. With an almost unbelievable running performance they tried to force the equalizer, but failed again and again due to the outstanding goalkeeper Iker Casillas . He even saved a penalty in the middle of the second half. It was only in the 90th minute that Ireland could equalize with a penalty kick. The fighting continued in extra time. Spain had only ten men on the field as one player was injured and the substitution quota had already been exhausted. But it remained at 1: 1.
The result was a penalty shoot-out First Robbie Keane and Fernando Hierro scored , then Holland missed for Ireland and Rubén Baraja gave Spain a 2-1 lead. The next four shooters all fired (Conolly, Kilbane; Juanfran, Valerón). After Finnan was able to equalize again as the last Irish shooter, Gaizka Mendieta converted safely as the last shooter and brought Spain to the quarter-finals.
Ireland | - | Spain | 1: 1 n.V., 2: 3 i. E. |