We all know what happened in Saipan and how Roy Keane's departure from the Ireland team in the middle of the 2002 World Cup caused shockwaves through the footballing world.
We sometimes forget though, that he did return to the Ireland under Brian Kerr in 2004, and officially came out of retirement to wear the green jersey once again.
Keen to put the whole '02 World Cup saga behind him and represent his country again, the then Man United captain didn't want his international career to end on a sour note.
Since he departed, Kenny Cunningham was made captain of the team, and that remained the case when Keane returned, but he wasn't necessarily happy about it.
Speaking in his autobiography The Second Half, the former Ireland skipper revealed that he should have fought more to get his armband back.
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There were no problems when I went back into the squad. I didn’t bat an eyelid. I’d had no disagreement with any of the players. I like Brian, and the only thing I found a little bit strange was that I wasn’t the captain.
I’d been captain before, and we’d had success; we’d got to the World Cup finals in Japan and Korea –and, of course, I was the captain at United.
But Kenny Cunningham was the captain. I’d played with Kenny over the years. He was popular with the players. He’d always be organising card schools and quizzes and whip-rounds for the bus driver and for the woman who’d served us tea in 19-fuckin’-52. But most of the lads liked him.
I’d always been a bit blasé about the captain’s role. I’d often said that it was only about going up for the toss. I think I didn’t want to talk the job –or myself –up: ‘Oh, the captain’s role is vital, look at me.’But as I got older I realised that there was more to it than that. The captain’s role isn’t just important; it is vital.
The captain is the leader. I think you need someone at the front, at the top of the tunnel, who’ll inspire the thought, ‘I’ll follow him – everyone’s going to follow him.’
