Northern Ireland v Czech Republic

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26
Words: Marshall Gillespie DID YOU
KNOW?
The top Northern Ireland scorers in England and
Scotland during 2016-17 were:
Liam Boyce (Ross County) 24 in 40 games
Billy Kee (Accrington Stanley) 15 in 46 games
Niall McGinn (Aberdeen) 13 in 50 games
Shay McCartan (Accrington Stanley) 11 in 39 games
This evening will be the sixth time that we
will have played Czech Republic in a full
international. Northern Ireland have failed
to win any of the previous five meetings
although the last three games between the
countries have all ended in scoreless draws.
Our full record against the Czechs is:
04.09.16 Prague (WCQ) drew 0-0
14.10.09 Prague (WCQ) drew 0-0
10.09.08 Belfast (WCQ) drew 0-0
06.06.01 Teplice (WCQ) lost 1-3
24.03.01 Belfast (WCQ) lost 0-1
Northern Ireland have
previously played 12
internationals on a Monday
though only two of them have
taken place at the National
Football Stadium at Windsor
Park. The first was against
Hungary on 7 September
2015 when Kyle Lafferty
hit a dramatic 92nd-minute
equaliser, a result which
went a long way to ensuring
qualification for Euro 2016.
The only other game was in
March last year when Conor
Washington scored on his
home debut to secure a 1-0
friendly win over Slovenia.
The last player to score on his
international debut for Northern Ireland
was defender George McCartney who
headed home a Keith Gillespie cross in a
3-0 success against Iceland at Windsor
Park on 5 September 2001 (exactly 16
years ago tomorrow).
England striker Gary Lineker never
received a yellow or red card during
his eight-year international career
which spanned 88 games. Likewise
our very own Niall McGinn has
yet to earn the wrath of referees
in his 52 appearances to date for
Northern Ireland.