Soccer: McAteer plays down Tehran fears

Jason McAteer insists the Republic of Ireland’s journey into the unknown to take on Iran in the second leg of the World Cup play-offs holds no terrors for manager Mick McCarthy’s players.

Minus the considerable presence of injured captain Roy Keane, the 23-man Irish squad undertook a gruelling seven-hour flight to Tehran today with wild tales of Islamic fanaticism and strange Middle East customs awaiting them in the Iranian capital, which is just 300 miles from the border of the Afghanistan war-zone.