Ian Harte has spoken of his deep respect for former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy and international team-mate Roy Keane after announcing his retirement yesterday.
Harte earned 64 caps between 1996 and 2007 and referenced the 2001 win over the Netherlands that set Ireland on the road to qualification for the following year's World Cup as his favourite moment in a green shirt.
"Mick McCarthy gave me an opportunity," he told 2FM's Game On. "There was a time when I was playing more games for Ireland than I was for Leeds.
"I really respect Mick. In the early stages of his international management career he got a bit of flak but Ireland were going through a bit of a change at the time and there were lots of new, young players.
"It was amazing that Mick got Ireland to the World Cup. We beat Holland and played against Iran as well.
"For me, one of the best games was against Holland at Landsdowne Road when we won 1-0. Playing in the game you try to keep your emotions calm but when he [Jason McAteer] stuck that in the back of the net..."
Harte believes that Roy Keane's famous challenge on Marc Overmars that day provided the platform for the famous victory.
"What set the tone that day was that within two minutes of the game kicking off, Roy Keane absolutely nailed Marc Overmars.
"That kind of set us all up. We thought 'right we're in a game now, let's produce it'.
"One of the best things was to play alongside Roy Keane as well. He was a proper leader. People think he was mad but he was actually one of the nicest, most genuine guys if you sat down and had a chat with him.
"He was a fantastic guy. I was lucky enough to work with him at Sunderland. I didn't play too many games there but he signed me when I came back from Spain. I have a lot of respect for Roy as well."
The Drogheda man made his name as a dead-ball specialist full-back with Leeds United, where he made 213 appearances and scored 28 goals over eight seasons, while playing alongside uncle and fellow Ireland international Gary Kelly, and reaching UEFA Cup and Champions League semi-finals under David O'Leary.
"It was fantastic," said Harte. "Me playing left-back and uncle playing right-back. It was pretty amazing.
"The Leeds team at that time was going through a transition and there were lots of young players getting introduced to the first team. We all kind of grew up together.
"It was an amazing team that we had back then and I just hope that Leeds get back to the Premier League, where the club deserves to be.
"It was a fantastic team. A successful team that got to two [European] semi-finals. It's sad that we never won anything but hopefully they can get back up."
"One of the highlights for me was the [2001 Champions League] game against Deportivo, beating them 3-0 at home in the quarter-finals to get us into the semi-finals.
"It was pretty special that night. A packed Elland Road, all the fans were absolutely buzzing. [His goal] was probably a bit of dodgy goalkeeping to be honest, I think he should have saved it!"
"I never wanted to leave the club. I still had two years left on my contract there but financially, for the best interests of the club, it was time for me to move on and I went to Spain to Levante."
Harte ended up at Bournemouth following spells at Sunderland, Blackpool, Carlisle and Reading. And he revealed that he felt earning promotion with Bournemouth last season was an ideal way to finish his career and that he plans to represent footballers rather than get into management or coaching.
"I'm 38 on Monday. I've never thought I'd wake up in the morning and feel the pain but last year it was probably the travelling.
"I was travelling an hour and 40 minutes to Bournemouth because I lived in Reading, then training and an hour and 40 minutes back.
"I was thinking 'do I really want to be travelling long distances?' and you might be sat on the bench or in the stand.
"I've been thinking about it probably for the last four months. I just thought to myself 'best to go out on a high'.
"Bournemouth have achieved something great by getting promoted to the Premier League and I just thought it was the right time to announce it.
"I haven't done my badges. I'm starting to get a few grey hairs but I think if I became a manager or a coach I'd have a head full of grey hair overnight."
