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The tradition that has built up since 1986 of
Northern Ireland not qualifying for the World Cup
Finals tournament is another one we all would like
to see ended - and as soon as possible please!
It’s time the Spanish lessons taken for the trip to
Guadalajara in 1986 are superseded by the Russian
ones for the impending visit to Moscow.
Another one we trust will bite the dust tonight is
that Northern Ireland have not defeated Norway in
Belfast since 1975.
We have had five goes at it, including that
memorable night in 2004 when, in Lawrie
Sanchez’s first match in charge, David Healy
famously scored the goal that rebooted our
goalscoring at international level, albeit in the
euphoria of that goal it is often overlooked that the
Norwegians had scored four!
In 1990, 96, 2001, 2004 and more recently in 2012
the Norwegians have come and left with the spoils
so it is high time that that particular little tradition
was ended.
On the other hand one tradition which we would all
like to be maintained is that Northern Ireland have
not lost a competitive home match since Cristiano
Ronaldo plundered a second half hat-trick against
us back in September 2013. There is no doubt that
is a tradition worth keeping.
I suppose the lesson is that if it suits us we like to
see tradition maintained, but if it doesn’t we are all
for change and innovation.
As one famous coach memorably said: “Let’s win
the match first, then we can discuss whether or not
we played well.”
Let’s grab the points tonight and then we can
debate whether we are maintaining the traditions
of the Northern Ireland team and the Irish FA or
merely starting new ones.
Mind you, there must be some way to ensure that
all the players wear black boots…
Words:
William Campbell
Steven Davis and Norway legend John Arne Riise tussle for
possession back in 2012. Goals from Havard Nordtveit, Tarik
Elyounoussi and Espen Ruud ensured Michael O'Neill's first
match as Northern Ireland boss ended in defeat.
www.irishfa.com31