He looked after us - Damien Duff on Roy Keane's time with Ireland

Former Republic of Ireland international Damien Duff feels Roy Keane could have helped Ireland go further in the 2002 World Cup.

Former Republic of Ireland international Damien Duff, speaking at the Launch of RTÉ's World Cup coverage in Donnybrook on Wednesday admitted Roy Keane’s presence in the Ireland squad could have made a big difference for Ireland’s chances at the infamous World Cup.

Duff was first asked the question by fellow pundit Eamon Dunphy who felt that if Keane had stayed could Ireland have went further in the World Cup.

He said: “If Roy Keane had stayed, we could have won that World Cup. I’m serious. If Roy Keane had been in that team, it would have been very different.”

Dunphy later admitted that when an unknown South Korea side reached the semi finals of that World Cup, Ireland could have made it to those later stages.

Duff who was a major star in that World Cup for Ireland and admired Keane but felt that when he left it allowed some of the players to breathe.

He said: “The Spain team weren’t one of the great teams. We dominated them, went out on penalties. Looking at it from another point of view, Roy dominates dressing rooms.

“People were in fear of Roy not me, not Robbie, he looked after us, we were young, we were fearless. But even at Man United, people were in fear of him, but maybe in a way, when he left, it let lads breathe.

“So, we’ll never know. He could have driven us on to the final, but other players who played well might not have played as well because Roy was barking down their neck for 90 minutes.”

Later on when Duff was asked again about Roy and the Saipan debacle he added: “He was the best midfielder in the world at the time, he would improve any team.

“From my point of view he would have helped us go further into the tournament but it’s all what ifs all people talk about is Saipan and Roy, to sell a book you have to do a chapter on that.”

When speaking about World Cup memories at the launch, Duff felt one of the greatest moments in his career was playing for Ireland at the 2002 World Cup despite everything that had happened, he had always dreamed of putting on an Ireland Jersey and saw inspiration from the generations that came before him.

He said: “Talking about inspiring generations, 1988, 90, 94. The likes of Ronnie (Whelan), Paul McGrath what they did was inspire us, made us love the game and made us dream to put on an Ireland shirt, they had a big part to play in it.”

He added: “I don’t think anything touches the World Cup, to score all be it a lucky and not the prettiest goal, it was nice he dropped it in and it was an amazing feeling from an individual point of view, but we could have went further I thought we were a good team”.