One of the most memorable sights from Ireland's 2002 World Cup journey was Damien Duff's bowing celebration after scoring in the 3-0 group win over Saudi Arabia.
It was a gesture appreciated by fans in Japan at the time and one he performed as a thank you to the nice welcome they got at that tournament.
Speaking to Team 33 at the launch of the Ireland jersey for Euro 2016 at Life Style Sports Grafton Street, the former Republic of Ireland and Chelsea winger revealed that many football fans from Asia used to flock towards his training grounds.
"I was obviously over in Japan and we went to Korea later on. [They] were very respectful all the fans and they'd always just be bowing at you and you'd always felt a bit embarrassed when they were doing it. So I just thought yeah, if I score that night - and luckily I did from some bad goalkeeping - I decided to bow. There wasn't that much thought gone into it. It was just a little bit back to Asia," he said.
"[Since then] I've had Asian fans flying over. They'd be waiting outside the Fulham training ground and most of my fan mail was from Asia. So that bow went a long way."
You can listen to the full Team 33 quick chat with Damien Duff on the podcast player just below. He also chats about his take on how long-time friend and colleague Robbie Keane is viewed in Ireland, the impact playing in Brian Kerr's youth teams had in terms of experience for senior tournaments and also talks his former boss Claudio Ranieri and Ireland's chances at Euro 2016.
Duff was launching the new Republic of Ireland jersey at Life Style Sports. They have put 12 football trips to France up for grabs for anyone who buys their jersey from Life Style Sports stores from March 10th to May 27th as part of the #FootbALLorNothing campaign which kicked off today.
There are 10 more trips to be given away between now and May 27th and all people need to do is buy their Republic of Ireland jersey in-store between now and May 27th.
Find more detail right here on how you can enter.
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