A 10-day tour of South America before the 2014 World Cup has been understandably overlooked in the story of Northern Ireland’s extraordinary rise under Michael O’Neill. Now, as one of the eight best runners-up in Europe, Northern Ireland are a play-off away from qualifying for consecutive tournaments for the first time in their history. Chile 2-0 Northern Ireland | World Cup warm-up Read more“People often reflect a country through the status of their sports whether it’s a rugby World Cup, the best tennis player in the world or football,” he says. “There is a great deal of pride and intrinsic value that comes from success on the sporting field and this is the biggest field Northern Ireland can ever step on to. It is 32 years since we were last at a World Cup.

Source: The Guardian November 07, 2017 15:00 UTC