McATEER READY FOR CAULDRON

Sportinglife - Manchester and Tehran may not have a great deal in common on the face of it, but they do for Sunderland midfielder Jason McAteer.

The 32-year-old Republic of Ireland international will run out at Old Trafford on Sunday for his side's FA Cup semi-final clash against Millwall with memories of one of the biggest days of his career replaying in his head.

On November 15 2001, McAteer and his Irish team-mates scrapped their way to the World Cup finals via the play-offs despite conceding a late goal in a hugely-intimidating atmosphere in the Iranian capital.

"The biggest one for me was the Iran game," he said. "That was a kind of semi-final to get to the World Cup and just the feeling after that game was unbelievable.

"It was one of the best feelings I've ever had in football. I just remember falling to my knees and getting upset.

"I'm quite an emotional person - I got upset and I'm not afraid to show my feelings.

"It was an emotional day and it's going to be like that again on Sunday afternoon."

However, Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy, who was also McAteer's boss for Ireland that day, is not so sure.

"One was the game that could get us to the World Cup finals, this one can get us to the FA Cup final, so comparisons can be made," he said.

"But I can assure you, going to Old Trafford is not quite the same as going to Teheran," he added with a smile.

In its own way, Sunderland's progression to the semi-finals is every bit as remarkable as what Ireland achieved on the way to, and in, the 2002 World Cup finals after a traumatic year on Wearside.

The nightmare of relegation was compounded by crippling debts of around £36million which meant their prized assets had to be sold off, and the consensus was that the downward spiral would continue unabated.

However, McCarthy and his players have not only halted the decline, but sparked a recovery which could yet bring them an FA Cup final appearance and, more importantly, promotion back to the Barclaycard Premiership at the first attempt.

It all started at Preston on August 23 last year when the Black Cats, knowing defeat would see them equal Darwen's 104-year-old record of 18 on the trot in the league, managed a 2-0 win in what McCarthy still insists was the most important game of the season - including the semi-final.

"If we were to lose it, would it mean more than having lost 18 league games on the spin at the end of the day?" he said.

"Would it mean more than we were actually bottom of the league, not having won a game at the start of the season, and probably would have continued to spiral had we lost that game against Preston? I don't know.

"Sunday can have a really positive effect on Millwall or Sunderland.

"If we win, we could kick on and continue to be successful, or it could have a really debilitating, devastating effect on either club if they were to lose."