Football Soccer - Northern Ireland v Slovenia - International Friendly - Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland - 28/3/16 Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill talks to Steven Davis Action Images via Reuters / Tony O'Brien Livepic
LONDON (Reuters) - It has been so long since Northern Ireland appeared at the finals of a major tournament that fewer than a handful of Michael O’Neill’s squad for the European Championship had been born when the country last graced the game’s greatest stages.
When Billy Bingham led Northern Ireland to the World Cup in 1986, only Roy Carroll, Aaron Hughes and Gareth McAuley were of primary school age as against-the-odds heroics from Pat Jennings, Norman Whiteside and Gerry Armstrong entered into local folklore.
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