Saipan is an infamous chapter in Irish football history, and it still divides opinion to this day.
Roy Keane was among the world's best midfielders at the time, but his fallout with Mick McCarthy meant he did not take part in the 2002 World Cup.
The nation was split into 'team McCarthy' and 'team Keane'.
Ireland reached the last-16, before a narrow penalty shootout loss to Spain, and some fans still take part in pub debates on how far the team would have progressed had the Manchester United man not been at home in Cork.
It's been rehashed so often that yawns normally ensue at the mention of the remote island, while both McCarthy and Keane have had their say.
However, when the Corkman discusses it, it's always interesting.
Keane was asked about his Ireland career on the Stick to Football podcast, and had plenty to say.
He appears on the show with former teammate Gary Neville, Ian Wright, Jamie Carragher and Jill Scott.
It's well-known that the clash in Saipan erupted over a lack of preparation from the FAI, and Keane elaborated on this.
"I still can't get my head around how a team that qualified months in advance... if that happened with England, France, Germany, and you turned up and there's no gear there, no footballs, you'd be a laughing stock.
"For some reason with Ireland it was 'ah well'. I'd just had enough. I went 'no, no'. I had my little debate with Mick over there. I said 'Mick, this is unacceptable'. It was all very calm."
He went on to discuss the team meeting where the row erupted in front of the Ireland squad.
"The issue was when there was a meeting called a couple of days later, and I was questioned about missing the play-off game. Basically he said 'you could have played in that game'... I was injured! We've all missed matches, and we all have guilt. We've all had games where you realised 'I shouldn't have played, I took a chance on an injury'. So why would somebody be throwing that at me on the eve of the World Cup?
"If they had issues with my commitment, why not bring it up a month earlier?"
Keane insisted he has no regrets over the fiasco. However, he did reveal what he would say in response to McCarthy if he was given the chance to repeat the encounter.
"There were media commitments and I said one or two things I wasn't happy with and Mick was obviously disappointed with aspects of what I said. Mick was very much in bed with a lot of the Irish media... which was fine, that's another story I don't want to go there.
"I'd been asked by a reporter did I respect Mick, and I said no I didn't. I told the reporter in private, but word got back to Mick. Eventually, in this meeting, Mick was saying 'you don't respect me'. I said 'I don't respect you'.
"This was after the accusation about me missing a game. I just didn't respect him, we'd qualified from a tough group. But that doesn't mean, or if I didn't respect [Alex] Ferguson at the end [of his United career], it doesn't mean I'm not going to try. I was a manager at Sunderland and Ipswich. I'm pretty sure when I upset people they didn't respect me, that's fine.
"When I fell out with Mick in front of a group of players... he said 'if you don't respect me, how can you play for me?' I didn't say it at the time. I should have said, 'I'm not playing for you, I'm playing for my country'. Very simple. But at the time, I just said, 'OK, I won't'.
"In that campaign, when we qualified from a tough group, I was one of the senior players. It's bizarre a manager felt he had to pull me in front of the group and then go on about respect.
"I've played for Ireland since I was 14 or 15, don't go on an ego trip thinking I'm here to play for you, I'm here to play for my country.
"I never wanted it to be perfect, but what I did want from the group I was working with was progress."
He added: "Regrets? None, I didn't lose a wink of sleep about it. Your family take the brunt of it... and particularly my parents."
On happier times in the green jersey, Keane spoke fondly of playing under Jack Charlton.
"The best for me was playing in the World Cup in 1994. We had a good team, good players, Jack [Charlton] was really good.
"People like Paul McGrath and Dennis Irwin, lads who had played a lot of games.
"You'd meet up on a Saturday or Sunday for a game on a Wednesday. There was no international break back then. You'd get together and on a Sunday we'd all be out, there'd be no hesitation, there was no conversation about what time you'd be back at. If you went out on a Sunday in Dublin you'd probably get back at 6am or 7am. Training might be put back to Monday afternoon.
"The lads would ask Jack if we could go for a few pints, and he'd say 'yeah, but I want you back 12ish... big game on Monday'.
"I was only young, I'd be saying nothing. But some of the senior players would be saying 'that's a bit early', he'd say 'alright lads, maybe 1am'. The lads would then say, 'Jack, if you're in a club you're not leaving at 1', and he'd say 'be back for 2, that's it'. Then it would be, 'Jack, it's no-man's land at 2', he'd eventually say 'alright, I'll see you in the morning!'"
He added: "It was give and take with Jack, but it was good management and the players gave it back for him and always had a proper go at it.
"Jack's messages were simple, and I was used to that with Brian Clough, I enjoyed Jack's message about football."
