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There are two framed posters on the wall above my
desk. I look at them whenever I need cheering up.
They show David Healy scoring the winner against
England in 2005.
But let’s not forget the match which took place
four days earlier. On a sunny Saturday afternoon
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With all due respect to our footballing friends from
the slopes of the Caucasus mountain range, they
were simply the support act for the superstar band
which would take to the stage in Belfast four days
later.
The England team were on their way to Windsor.
It was not just any England team. This was David
Beckham’s England, full of stars, household names
and celebrities.
Ferdinand, Gerrard, Lampard, Owen and a promising
teenager called Wayne Rooney were heading to our
shores for a vital World Cup match.
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tussle with the team who had hammered us 4-0 at
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But in the meantime Azerbaijan were standing
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Azeris provided us with an appetiser for the main
course.
They made us sweat a little, too. It was late in the
game before Stuart Elliott scored direct from a free-
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Ireland since Martin O’Neill drilled one home against
Austria in 1983.
Late in the game Keith Gillespie was upended in the
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high spirits, none of us could possibly know that the
foundations had been laid for an amazing win.
So we welcome the Azeris back with fond memories
of 2005.
However, we know that time, tide and football wait
for no-one. Times change; new faces, new tactics,
new formations alter the game we love.
As Michael O’Neill discovered painfully in the last
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Caspian Sea are no pushovers. Their shock win over
their giant neighbours, Turkey, in 2010 demonstrated
how much they have matured on the international
stage. Tonight’s game will be a tough one.
When I look back on a lifetime of supporting
Northern Ireland, the 2005 win against England
rates as the best of all celebrations.
But let’s not forget the previous game when our
team came together as a unit in preparation for one
of their greatest ever achievements.
Welcome back Azerbaijan!
www.irishfa.com49
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WELCOME BACK
AZERBAIJAN!
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