Northern Ireland vs Bulgaria (15/10/2024)

ROY CARROLL’S BEST XI

Andy Greeves invites former Northern Ireland internationals to choose their best 11. The line-up can include players past and present and not necessarily former team-mates. Here Roy Carroll chooses his squad…

GK – FABIEN BARTHEZ I was in squads with some great goalkeepers… Tim Howard, Shaka Hislop, Rob Green, Maik Taylor, Allan McGregor to name but a few. The most decorated goalkeeper I was ever in a squad with was Fabien Barthez, a world and European champion with France, so I’ll put him in as my number one. LB – DENIS IRWIN Denis was ‘Mr Consistency’ during his career. He was a brilliant defender and also a player who scored goals from free-kicks and penalties. He was always very calm under pressure. CB – JONNY EVANS Jonny would be on the left of my centre-back pairing. Jonny has had an incredible career for club and country. He came through as a youngster during my time with Northern Ireland and it was incredible seeing his calmness at a young age. The fact he is still playing at the top level for Manchester United at the age of 36 says it all. CB – RIO FERDINAND Rio incapsulated the ‘new’ style of centre-back that came on the scene during my career. He was so comfortable on the ball. He had so much speed and a great understanding of the game. He was a true athlete. RB – GARY NEVILLE Gary is an obvious inclusion for me. He was one of the best right-backs of his generation who had such a long career at Manchester United and played under various managers for England. LM – RYAN GIGGS Ryan Giggs is obviously a Premier League legend and he gets my nod on the left side. The selection of my two wingers was probably the toughest call of all for this team because I really wanted to start Keith Gillespie, but it’s hard to leave out a pairing of Giggs and Beckham.

CM – PAUL SCHOLES I don’t think anyone who has played with Paul Scholes could leave him out of a team like this. He was one of the best midfielders in the world

without any doubt. CM – STEVEN DAVIS

I would have loved to put Roy Keane into this team. A phenomenal player who demanded the best every time you went on to the field. But having played with him so often at international level, I’m going to choose Steven Davis. I honestly believe if he had a Spanish or an Italian surname so many more people would rave about him. RM – DAVID BECKHAM Cristiano Ronaldo started out as a right winger at Manchester United but I’m going to play him upfront to accommodate David Beckham. We all know the qualities Becks had, his range of passing, his crossing, his free-kick technique etc. FW – CRISTIANO RONALDO Ronaldo came to Manchester United as a young man. He learned to adapt to the Premier League and life in a new country so quickly. He is a wonderful professional, so dedicated to his training and living the right way off the pitch. FW – RUUD VAN NISTELROOY Ruud was an out and out goalscorer. Again he was one of those players who came to Manchester United and just hit the ground running. SUBS AARON HUGHES – Aaron was a great player and he could play a number of positions, too. JAAP STAM – I was fortunate to have Jaap in front of me at Manchester United for a short while. DAVID HEALY – David has to be in there for all the goals he scored for Northern Ireland. ROY KEANE – It sounds strange to name Roy Keane as a substitute. He’s the perfect captain. KEITH GILLESPIE – He was a such a good player for Northern Ireland during my international career.

IRISHFA.COM

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