It may be hard to believe, but there was a time when the Republic of Ireland were one of the best teams at an international football tournament
The tournament was the FIFA World Cup. The year was 2002.
A time when the world naively thought there couldn't possibly be a president worse than George W. Bush. A time when people unironically listened to Limp Bizkit. And a time when people wore Sketchers...who still make shoes, apparently?
In a year of presidential war mongering, Nu Metal (yeah, that is the way they spelt new), and horrendous dad shoes, Ireland could take solace in the fact that - for once - their national team was actually brilliant.