Northern Ireland v Greece (02/06/2022)

DID YOU KNOW?

WORDS: MARSHALL GILLESPIE

Unfortunately Northern Ireland’s UEFA Nations League record is not the best . Over the course of the last two campaigns we have played a total of 10 games with our best performances being two 1-1 draws against Romania in Bucharest (Sep 2020) and Belfast (Nov 2020) . The remaining eight games have all ended in defeat , four at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park and four on the road. Our full record is:

In 10 Nations League games Northern Ireland have found the net on just six occasions, with five of those six goals being scored in the second half of matches. The only first half goal has come from Paddy McNair who scored in the sixth minute of the 5-1 defeat to Norway. Our goalscorers in the competition to date have been: Will Grigg (08.09.2018) v Bosnia and Herzegovina (h) lost 1-2

Corry Evans (18.11.2018) v Austria (h) – lost 1-2 Gavin Whyte (04.09.2020) v Romania (a) – drew 1-1 Paddy McNair (07.09.2020) v Norway (h) – lost 1-5 Josh Magennis (15.11.2020) v Austria (a) – lost 1-2 Liam Boyce (18.11.2020) v Romania (h) - drew 1-1

P W D L F A 10 0 2 8 6 18

The only player to have played in all 10 previous Nations League matches for Northern Ireland is Stuart Dallas, who will sadly miss the four games in the competition this month due to a leg fracture sustained while playing for his club, Leeds United. Dallas started nine of those 10 games, accumulating a total of 823 minutes. In the remaining match against Norway in Oslo in October 2020 he came on as a substitute. Unfortunately though he put through his own net just seven minutes after replacing Michael Smith to give the home side all three points.

All six goals scored by Northern Ireland in the Nations League have been assisted by different players. The players are: Liam Boyce (08.09.2018) v Bosnia and Herzegovina (h) lost 1-2 Jordan Jones (18.11.2018) v Austria (h) – lost 1-2 Kyle Lafferty (04.09.2020) v Romania (a) – drew 1-1 Conor Washington (07.09.2020) v Norway (h) – lost 1-5 Paddy McNair (15.11.2020) v Austria (a) – lost 1-2 Matthew Kennedy (18.11.2020) v Romania (h) - drew 1-1

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NIR V GRE