Republic of Ireland v Cameroon
Niigata | Sat 1 June | 0730 BST | Group E
Live on BBC One/Radio Five Live
Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy is confident his team can put the Roy Keane saga behind them with a good display against Cameroon.
McCarthy's players open their Group E campaign on Saturday without captain Keane, who was sent home after a bust-up with the manager.
But the boss wants his side do their talking on the pitch from now on.
Looking forward to the "proudest moment" of his professional life, a bullish McCarthy insists the spirit in the Irish camp is buoyant and full of confidence.
"I can't believe anyone would want to question the character of my squad," he said.
"They are top class, a credit to themselves.
"The character here is brilliant, we want to do our talking on the pitch now."
The former Ireland captain led the Republic to their best ever World Cup showing - a quarter-final
place - at the finals in Italy 12 years ago.
But McCarthy, whose position was under fire from some quarters over his handling of Keane, insists that his best moment in football has yet to come.
"It was a wonderful feeling in 1990 but that's history now,"
he said.
"This promises to be even better. This will be my proudest moment in the game and I am really looking forward to it."
Ireland knocked out Holland on the way to qualifying for the tournament via the play-offs.
And McCarthy is adamant that even without their talisman Keane, his side are not just there to make up the numbers.
"We've had just two defeats in 20 matches, we qualified (for
the finals) out of a group containing Portugal and the
Netherlands and we beat Iran over two legs (in a qualifying
playoff)," he said.
"The squad has not really changed in 15 years and morale is
always high.
"We will go down fighting if we do go down."
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