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Hiroshima 1-2 Ireland
Hiroshima 1-2 Ireland
Saturday, 25th May 2002 11:52

A Roy Keane-less Republic of Ireland side eventually overcame their J-League opposition in a match where a serious injury could rule out Jason McAteer from the initial stages of the World Cup.

The Sunderland midfielder went down under a heavy challenge in the 36th minute which had the Ireland manager Mick McCarthy seething "In the spirit of a friendly match, there was no need for a bad tackle like that".

He was stretchered off to be replaced by Stephen Reid but Matt Holland's men immediately went 1-0 down to a headed Kumo goal. Robbie Keane equalised shortly after and scored his second 10 minutes before the end and won the match in front of a sell-out 10,380 crowd.

Kevin Kilbane also limped off on the hour mark but his injury does not look as serious as the former Liverpool player. The new Irish captain Steve Staunton was optimistic over the knee injury "Jason's in a bit of pain but hopefully he'll be okay next week."


Photo: Action Images



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