Northern ireland v Italy
I know this is an Irish League blog but I couldn’t ignore the fact that it’s International week and Northern Ireland are in action again. On Friday night the Italians arrived at Windsor, probably expecting to collect 3 points. But this is Northern Ireland and Windsor Park with an evening kick off and ‘big’ teams can no longer come to Belfast and take a win for granted.
Nigel Worthington’s men were under pressure for a lot of the game but they battled hard all over the pitch to grind out a 0-0 draw and earn another point. Italy may have had a disappointing World Cup in South Africa this summer but they are still a strong, albeit young, team. Pirlo, at times, was a joy to watch, his passing and control of the ball was superb, it looked effortless to him. The high tempo of the Italians game had our players sweating at times and probably stopped more than just my heart in the Windsor Park stands. When Northern Ireland got going however Italy knew they were in for a game.
David Healy was unlucky not to score his first international goal for 13 games in the first half. A great ball into the box from Chris Brunt provided what was probably Northern Ireland’s best chance of the game. Healy headed just wide of the net, had he made contact slightly differently it would have been in. Northern Ireland fans so want it to happen for the man who has scored 35 goals for his country.
After a shakey 15 minutes at the start of the second half Northern Ireland found their confidence again and continued to press for a goal. Italy were equal to the challenges though and created chances of their own at the other end. Taylor was forced to make a save when Pirlo shot from long range soon after the second half began. Kyle Lafferty came on for Healy in the 66th minute and made an immediate difference. The Fermanagh man kept his temper under control as promised and produced a great display. The Italians at times struggled to deal with his pace and height.
Both Italy and Northern Ireland struggled to keep shots on target but Taylor was forced into a finger tip save as Cassano’s shot headed towards the back of the net. The introduction of Niall McGinn and Corry Evans for Chris Brunt and Grant McCann freshened up the Northern Ireland attack. In the dying minutes McGinn and Davis teamed up and almost got a Northern Ireland winner but for Italian ‘keeper Vivano getting a hand to the ball.
Northern Ireland and Italy threw everything at it in the search for a goal but the game finished 0-0 in what was probably a fair result. The Northern Ireland defence were superb, at times literally throwing themselves infront of the ball and it paid off. Steven Davis also stood out in a team that gave their all, he proved last night that he can mix it with the best.
Northern Ireland left for the Faroe Islands yesterday to prepare for tomorrows game. We’ll all be hoping for three points but Worthington will make sure his players take nothing for granted. Whatever happens tomorrow four points from a possible six, against Slovenia and Italy who were both at the World Cup, is beyond what most Northern Ireland fans expected. The fact Northern Ireland’s players were disappointed only to take a point off a country who have won the World Cup more times than we’ve qualified says a lot about the mentality of this team and how far we’ve come.
Seven points from nine would look even better than four from six, c’mon Norn Iron!
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