Northern Ireland v USA

Recently helping St Johnstone win the League Cup for the first time in the club’s 137-year history goes down as an early highlight of McCann’s blossoming career. The Perth club’s only previous major honour came in 2014 when former Northern Ireland goalkeeper Wright managed them to an historic win in the Scottish Cup final. “It was only the club’s second major trophy and winning the Betfred Cup meant a lot to everyone in Perth,” said McCann. “It was huge, particularly for me being only 21 and getting a major medal for the first time. “The senior players had drilled it into us that these chances don’t come around too often, so I knew we had to make the most of it. It was fantastic to lift the trophy.” McCann, who was born in Edinburgh but qualifies for Northern Ireland through his Portadown-born father, holds special memories of his two international appearances to date. After making an eye-catching debut in a narrow defeat to Austria in the UEFA Nations League on 15 November, he impressed further in a 1-1 draw with Romania in Belfast three days later. “It was quite surreal and nerve-wracking walking out against Romania, and while there were only 1,000-odd fans in the stadium they brought a bit of an atmosphere,” said McCann. “That made it a bit more special. I tried to make a positive impression in both games and now that I’ve got a taste of international football I don’t ever want to give it up. “The gaffer (Ian Baraclough) has also been massive for me. He is brilliant around training and has really helped me integrate into the senior squad.” On today’s friendly fixture with the USA - Northern Ireland’s first home game of 2021 - McCann said: “We’ll attack it as we would any other game. “Nothing can beat momentum or a winning mentality in football and it’s important we get into a habit of winning games, particularly at home. “A good result would be great for morale and confidence and help us heading into Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier with Bulgaria.”

ALISTAIR McCANN

Position Midfielder Date Of Birth 04.12.1999 Place Of Birth Edinburgh

MIDFIELDER

Height 176cm Weight 65kg

CLUB RECORD

18

SQUAD NO

CLUBS St Johnstone Stranraer (loan)

63 13

INTERNATIONAL RECORD

18

SQUAD NO

Debut 15.11.20 v Austria (A) Lost 2-1 Northern Ireland U21

Caps 2 Goals 0

6

39

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