2001: An Andorra odyssey

THE silence lasted 90 seconds.

That’s how long it took Kevin Kilbane to wipe out Andorra’s shock lead at Lansdowne Road nine years ago. And while further goals by Mark Kinsella and Gary Breen secured a 3-1 win for Ireland en route to the 2002 World Cup finals, there was no hiding the Republic’s discomfort during a scrappy, scruffy match played in wet conditions in April, 2001.

“It wasn’t me who said we were going to get 10 goals, and I never said it was going to be easy,” Mick McCarthy reflected after his 50th match in charge, with Roy Keane, Damien Duff and Niall Quinn out through injury.