Editing Mick McCarthy (section)

==International career==
McCarthy, the son of an Irish-born father, Charlie, is an Irish citizen since birth.<ref name="7-1">Section 7(1) of the ''Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts 1956 to 2004''.</ref> He made his Irish international debut in a goalless friendly against [[Poland national football team|Poland]] on 23 May 1984, McCarthy soon became a first-choice player and featured in all three of Ireland's games at [[UEFA Euro 1988]]. He went on to become captain, leading to the nickname "Captain Fantastic", as per the title of his autobiography.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29537577/the_tampa_tribune/   |date=6 January 1992 |first=Bill |last=Chastain |title=Commentary |page=103 |work=[[The Tampa Tribune]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=15 March 2019}}{{free access}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/sep/23/mick-mccarthy-jack-charlton-illuminated-ireland-changed-lives |title =Mick McCarthy on Jack Charlton: 'He illuminated Ireland and changed lives'|date= 23 September 2020 |work=Guardian|access-date=24 September 2020}}</ref>	

The highlight of McCarthy's international career was the second-round penalty shoot-out win over [[Romania national football team|Romania]] in the [[1990 FIFA World Cup|1990 World Cup]] finals. This led to a crunch tie with hosts [[Italy national football team|Italy]] in the quarter-final, where Ireland's first ever appearance in the finals came to an end, losing 1–0. McCarthy was the player who committed the most fouls in the 1990 tournament.<ref name="voicemail"/>

In total, McCarthy won 57 caps for the Republic of Ireland; scoring two goals, one against [[Yugoslavia national football team|Yugoslavia]] in April 1988,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soccerscene.ie/ss_gen/matchdetails.php?id=238&level=sssenior|title=Statistics: Republic of Ireland [Powered by tplSoccerStats]|website=www.soccerscene.ie|access-date=17 March 2019}}</ref> the other against the [[United States men's national soccer team|United States]] in May 1992.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29538200/the_akron_beacon_journal/ |work=[[Akron Beacon Journal]] |title=Soccer: U.S. an upset winner over Ireland |date=31 May 1992 |page=125 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=15 March 2019}}{{free access}}</ref>