Northern Ireland v Azerbaijan Offical Match Programme

WELCOME BACK AZERBAIJAN!

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(EZMH ,IEP] PIXW ƥ] EKEMRWX )RKPERH MR 7ITXIQFIV

There are two framed posters on the wall above my desk. I look at them whenever I need cheering up. They show David Healy scoring the winner against England in 2005. But let’s not forget the match which took place four days earlier. On a sunny Saturday afternoon %^IVFEMNER XSSO XLI ƤIPH EX ;MRHWSV JSV XLI ƤVWX XMQI With all due respect to our footballing friends from the slopes of the Caucasus mountain range, they were simply the support act for the superstar band which would take to the stage in Belfast four days later. The England team were on their way to Windsor. It was not just any England team. This was David Beckham’s England, full of stars, household names and celebrities. Ferdinand, Gerrard, Lampard, Owen and a promising teenager called Wayne Rooney were heading to our shores for a vital World Cup match. ;I 2SVR -VSR JERW [IVI ER\MSYW EFSYX ERSXLIV tussle with the team who had hammered us 4-0 at 3PH 8VEJJSVH WM\ QSRXLW IEVPMIV But in the meantime Azerbaijan were standing FIX[IIR YW ERH SYV ƤVWX [MR SJ XLI KVSYT 8LI Azeris provided us with an appetiser for the main course. They made us sweat a little, too. It was late in the game before Stuart Elliott scored direct from a free-

OMGO -X [EW XLI ƤVWX KSEP SJ XLEX OMRH F] 2SVXLIVR Ireland since Martin O’Neill drilled one home against Austria in 1983. Late in the game Keith Gillespie was upended in the FS\ ERH ;EVVIR *IIRI] KVEFFIH XLI FEPP WS XLEX LI GSYPH RIX XLI TIREPX] %W [I LIEHIH JSV XLI I\MXW MR high spirits, none of us could possibly know that the foundations had been laid for an amazing win. So we welcome the Azeris back with fond memories of 2005. However, we know that time, tide and football wait for no-one. Times change; new faces, new tactics, new formations alter the game we love. As Michael O’Neill discovered painfully in the last ;SVPH 'YT UYEPMƤIVW XLI QIR JVSQ XLI WLSVIW SJ XLI Caspian Sea are no pushovers. Their shock win over their giant neighbours, Turkey, in 2010 demonstrated how much they have matured on the international stage. Tonight’s game will be a tough one. When I look back on a lifetime of supporting Northern Ireland, the 2005 win against England rates as the best of all celebrations. But let’s not forget the previous game when our team came together as a unit in preparation for one of their greatest ever achievements. Welcome back Azerbaijan!

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