The dark backdrop to a golden goal

“I still don’t buy a pint when I come to Ireland,” says Jason McAteer.

“Listen, I’m the guy who did the hair commercial and if I hadn’t scored that goal, I’d be remembered for that.”

The former Ireland international is chuckling as he recalls the celebrated goal which condemned the Netherlands to defeat at Lansdowne Road in 2001 and sent Mick McCarthy’s team on their way to eventual qualification for the World Cup in Japan and Korea.

But the goal also meant a huge amount to him on a personal level. And now, as the 12th anniversary of the game approaches on September 1, McAteer reveals the anguish that lay behind his greatest moment in the green shirt.

“I was in a really bad place, personally, at the time of that goal,” he says. “My girlfriend at the time, her mum and dad had passed away within six weeks of each other and I’d gone through that with the family. I wasn’t playing regular football at Blackburn and I was fighting with (manager) Graeme Souness all the time. So my personal life was a mess and (Ireland manager) Mick McCarthy showed great faith to pick me for that game.

“So when I scored that goal, a tremendous amount of emotion came out. It was such a release. When you’re a professional footballer you hide a lot of that, you put it away in a box in your head when you’re in front of the cameras. I was always this happy-go-lucky ‘Trigger’ character, wasn’t I? When I was pushed in front of the media I had to be this jokey person – and, don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and place for ‘Trigger’ and I love it.

“But at that time, to play out that kind of person with all the things going on in my personal life, was extremely difficult. And, you know, I cried my eyes out for 20 minutes in the dressing room after that game. It just all came out. That goal took so much pressure out of me. It was a moment of happiness.

“Afterwards, the reaction was great from family and friends. All kinds of people were ringing me up to say well done. When I’d been at Anfield, there were two girls who used to serve us our breakfast at Melwood – Ann and Paula – and they were leaving messages on my phone saying it was great to see the goal.

“And I remember getting back to Blackburn and everyone at the club was made up for me, from the chairman down. Everyone was wishing me well. Except, when I walked into the club, Graeme Souness didn’t even look in my direction. Didn’t even say ‘well done’ or anything. But I knew – I knew – it’d killed him. And the satisfaction of that was great.

“That was the icing on the cake of that goal.”