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N. Ireland 4-0 San Marino
Northern Ireland claimed their first win in the World Cup qualifiers with an easy victory over the minnows.
David Healy struck low into the net for his opening goal of the campaign and a blistering shot from Grant McCann made it 2-0 at the break.
Kyle Lafferty slotted in from close range for the third before San Marino's Mauro Marani was red-carded for striking Michael O'Connor in the face.
A cheeky Steve Davis finish 15 minutes from time sealed a vital three points.
O'Connor came in for his first N Ireland start in place of the suspended Jonny Evans and the midfielder should have opened his goalscoring account on four minutes but he sent his eight-yard header over.
The game quickly progressed into a predictable pattern of the homeside attacking and San Marino soaking up the pressure.
Healy toe-poked wide and Davis curled a shot straight at keeper Frederico Valentino before a deserved opener arrived on the half hour.
George McCartney started the move with a surging run down the left before McCann slipped the ball to Healy, who created the space to crack low and off the legs of Simone Bacciocchi and Valentino before finding the net.
Healy wasted a good chance two minutes later when he side-footed wide after Valentino punched his clearance straight at the Sunderland striker.
McCann doubled the lead two minutes before the break, latching on to Healy's lay-off before blasting into the corner from 16 yards.
With the minnows offering virtually nothing in attack the game was effectively settled by half-time.
It was now a case of how many N Ireland could score and Lafferty made it 3-0 after 56 minutes.
Valentino pushed Healy's shot into the path of the Rangers forward, who tapped into an open net. San Marino's task was already beyond them before Marani was shown a straight red card after 63 minutes for striking O'Connor after the pair tangled in midfield.
N Ireland were now enjoying themselves and Lafferty provided the cut-back for his Ibrox team-mate Davis to cheekily flick the ball in at the front-post for the fourth goal in the 75th minute.
The chances continued to the final whistle but the job was done and N Ireland's campaign got the kick-start it desperately needed.
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Northern Ireland: Taylor, Baird, Hughes, McAuley (McGivern 60), McCartney, Gillespie, Davis, O'Connor, McCann (Paterson 72), Healy, Lafferty (Feeney 82).
Subs not used: Mannus, Gault, Shiels, Thompson.
Booked: McAuley, McGivern
Goals: Healy 30, McCann 43, Lafferty 56, Davis 75
San Marino: Federico Valentini, Carlo Valentini, Mauro Marani, Albani, Della Valle, Bacciocchi, Bonini (Fabio Vitaioli 77), Michele Marani, Manuel Marani (Cibelli 86), Selva (Matteo Vitaili 47), Vannucci.
Subs not used: Simonlini, Valli, Nanni, Andreini.
Sent off: Mauro Marani 63
Booked: Della Valle, Carlo Valentini
Referee: Petteri Kari (Finland)
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Slovenia 2-0 Northern Ireland
Slovenia struck twice in the final 10 minutes to dent Northern Ireland's chances of making the 2010 World Cup.
Kyle Lafferty volleyed wide for the visitors in a scrappy first half and the striker was denied by keeper Samir Handanovic's 64th-minute block.
Jonny Evans squandered another good chance as NI pressed before Slovenia went ahead through Milivoje Novakovic's close-range finish on 84 minutes.
Zlatan Ljubijankic slotted past Maik Taylor seconds later to seal the win.
Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington made four changes for the game with Steven Davis, Lafferty, Gareth McAuley and Grant McCann returning to the line-up.
Mirnes Sisic fired wide after five minutes, while Slovenia also had a penalty appeal turned down when Chris Baird appeared to push Zlatki Dedic to the floor.
In one of the few clear openings of the first half Lafferty volleyed wide on the turn from McAuley's cross after 20 minutes.
Midway through the first half Davis was booked for a foul on Andrej Komac and referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez had his yellow card out soon afterwards to caution Lafferty and Bostjan Cesar after an off-the-ball incident at a free-kick.
Davis dragged a shot wide seconds later with Lafferty just failing to get a touch to redirect the ball goalwards.
Lafferty sent a weak header well wide just before the break but the Rangers striker was proving a handful for the Slovenia defence.
David Healy finally made an impact on 58 minutes with the Sunderland forward sending his curling shot just over.
Lafferty wasted an excellent chance four minutes later, pouncing on a poor pass and sprinting clear but his underhit shot was blocked by the advancing Samir Handanovic.
Sisic was booked for a late challenge on Baird although the NI player was surprisingly shown a yellow card for diving.
The visitors squandered another clear opportunity from a 78th minute free-kick when Evans got ahead of his marker but from eight yards out he scooped the ball high into the air and the Slovenians cleared.
Slovenia had produced virtually nothing in attack but then scored twice in a minute to claim the three points.
Novakovic connected with an inswinging cross to finish at the back post and then substitute Ljubijankic outmuscled Evans before sliding the beyond Taylor and into the net.
Evans was booked in injury-time for a late challenge and the Manchester United player is now suspended for Wednesday's qualifier against San Marino in Belfast.
The defeat leaves N Ireland with just one point from their three qualifiers and lying fifth in Group Three.
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Slovenia: Handanovic, Brecko, Komac, Suler, Cesar, Sisic, Koren, Novakovic, Dedic (Ljubijankic 68), Kirm (Matic 90), Ilic.
Subs Not Used: Seliga, Morec, Jokic, Zlogar.
Booked: Cesar, Sisic, Komac, Kirm.
Goals: Novakovic 84, Ljubijankic 85.
Northern Ireland: Taylor, McAuley, McCartney, Evans, Baird, Gillespie, Davis, Healy, Lafferty, McCann (McGivern 73), Hughes.
Subs Not Used: Mannus, O'Connor, Feeney, Shiels, Paterson, Thompson.
Booked: Davis, Lafferty, Baird, McCartney, Evans.
Att: 12,385
Referee: Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez (Spain)
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BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: Slovenia's Zlatan Ljubijankic 9.00 (on 90 minutes).
N.Ireland 0-0 Czech Republic World Cup Qualifier 10/09/2008
Northern Ireland claimed their first point in the World Cup qualifiers after a stalemate with the group favourites at a wet and windy Windsor Park.
The Czechs had the best two chances in the first half but Radoslav Kovac and Milan Baros sent their headers wide.
The hosts went close on 51 minutes when Petr Cech kept out Warren Feeney's shot and Chris Brunt fired the rebound over.
Keith Gillespie was denied by another Cech save while David Healy blazed wide in the final minute.
Northern Ireland midfielder Steve Davis pulled out of the game late on Tuesday due to family reasons - Chris Baird was promoted from the bench to replace the Rangers player.
The Czechs enjoyed the wind advantage in the first half and the conditions played a part as the visitors threatened twice in the opening 10 minutes.
Maik Taylor tipped over Marek Jankulovski's wind assisted free-kick before Radek Sirl's inswinging corner was headed just wide from eight yards by Radoslav Kovac.
The visitors enjoyed early dominance but Northern Ireland forced their way into the game.
Chelsea stopper Cech reacted quickly to push David Rozehnal's wayward header round the post but the Czechs broke quickly from the resulting corner, only for Libor Sionko to hit a weak shot which was easily saved by Taylor.
Gillespie saw his low volley blocked by Rozehnal while Baros squandered an excellent chance on the stroke of half-time when the striker failed to get his near-post header on target from Zdenek Grygera's pinpoint cross.
Sammy Clingan was unable to recover from a should injury picked up in a first-half challenge and he was replaced during the break by Crewe's Michael O'Connor.
Northern Ireland pressed early in the second half with the wind at their back and they created an excellent opening on 51 minutes.
Feeney went clear on goal but his low shot was blocked by Cech's foot and Brunt smashed the rebound over the bar from 18 yards.
Brunt attempted an audacious lob over Cech from just over the halfway line but the ball drifted high and wide.
Tomas Ujfalusi was booked for a poor challenge on David Healy before Gillespie's fierce drive was kept out by Cech.
Martin Paterson came on for Feeney after 72 minutes before Gillespie hobbled off 10 minutes later with an ankle injury to be replaced by Dean Shiels.
Healy struck a 90th minute shot off-target as the sides settled for a point each and a deserved draw.
Northern Ireland: Taylor, McCartney, Evans, Hughes, Craigan, Gillespie (Shiels 84), Clingan (O'Connor 45), Baird, Brunt, Healy, Feeney (Paterson 72).
Subs Not Used: Mannus, McAuley, McGivern, Thompson.
Czech Republic: Cech, Grygera, Jankulovski, Rozehnal, Ujfalusi, Kovac, Plasil, Polak, Sionko (Pospech 67), Sirl, Baros (Slepicka 78).
Subs Not Used: Drobny, Kadlec, Jarolim, Rajnoch, Fenin.
Booked: Ujfalusi, Kovac.
Att: 14,000
Ref: Ivan Bebek (Croatia).
BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: Northern Ireland's Jonny Evans 7.33 (on 90 minutes).
New Videos
Northern Ireland 4-1 Georgia
A Kyle Lafferty double helped Northern Ireland to a comfortable friendly win at Windsor Park on Wednesday night.
The Burnley striker slotted in from a Steven Davis pass before David Healy's deflected shot made
it 2-0.
Lafferty headed in his second on 36 minutes but Georgia pulled one back through Healy's own-goal after Maik Taylor pushed a penalty onto a post.
Linfield forward Peter Thompson scored his first NI goal with a close-range finish three minutes from time.
There was a memorable moment just before kick-off when Uefa president Michel Platini presented Healy with a special award for scoring a record 13 goals during the Euro 2008 qualifiers.
It took 15 minutes before Northern Ireland began to spark and not surprisingly Healy was at the centre of the action.
The Fulham striker went close four times before playing a part in the 25th minute opener.
Healy pounced on a mistake and pushed the ball forward for Davis, whose perfect pass left Lafferty to provide the side-foot finish from 12 yards.
Healy doubled the lead seven minutes later when he drove forward before unleashing which defected off AC Milan defender Kakha Kaladze and past keeper Georgi Makaridze.
Nigel Worthington's team struck again on 36 minutes with Lafferty getting in front of his marker to powerfully head in from Healy's pinpoint cross.
Worthington made two half-time changes with Crewe's Michael O'Connor coming on for his debut in place of Damien Johnson and Lafferty making way for Warren Feeney.
But O'Connor made a nightmare start to his senior international career when he handled a 55th cross to concede a penalty.
Taylor pushed Levan Tskitishvili's spot-kick onto a post but Healy slid the ball into his own net as he came in to clear the rebound.
Linfield midfielder Michael Gault became the second Northern Ireland debutant as he and clubmate Thompson came on for Healy and Davis on 70 minutes.
Georgia fashioned two good chances with Taylor saving from Alexandre Iashvili and Levan Kenia strikes.
Alan Mannus replaced Taylor with 10 minutes left to make it a trio of players from Irish League side Linfield on the pitch.
Thompson got the final touch from an Aaron Hughes header to take the ball over the line and complete the scoring on 87 minutes.
The Linfield man became the first Irish League player since 1984 to score for Northern Ireland - the last was Lee Doherty, who also played for the Belfast club.
Northern Ireland: Taylor, Baird, Hughes, Craigan, Evans, Gillespie, Johnson, Davis, Elliott, Healy, Lafferty.
Georgia: Makaridze, Salukvadze, Kaladze, Kenia, Shashiashvili, Kobiashvili, Tskitishvili, Kankava, Kvakhadze, Kvirkvelia, Iashvili.
NORTHERN IRELAND'S CLIMB UP FIFA RANKINGS CONTINUES
18/07/2007
NORTHERN Ireland is now ranked 28th in the world – this is our highest ever placing.
In the latest FIFA world rankings published today (Wednesday) we have moved up one place, while the Republic of Ireland have fallen one place to 39th.
England have fallen down four places to 12th, Scotland have moved up one place to 22nd and Wales move up one to 74th.
Other rankings of interest include the countries in our Euro 2008 qualifying group: Spain are down two places to 9th, Sweden 20th (down three places), Denmark 26th (up one place), Iceland 109th (no move and joint with Azerbaijan), Latvia 111th (down four places) while our next opponents, Liechtenstein, who we play in August remain at 133rd.
The top spot has been taken over by Brazil, while Argentina have moved up to second with Italy falling from first to third.
Sanchez wants Celtic Tournament
Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez has called for a new Celtic nations competition to replace friendly internationals during the season.
Sanchez believes NI, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland would play in the competition but claims England would not want to take part.
"There's a lot in it for us, for Wales and Scotland, but not a lot in it for England," he said.
"It would be much more beneficial than playing non-interesting friendlies."
Sanchez's suggestion is a new twist on calls for the resurrection of the Home Nations Championship, which ended in 1984 with Northern Ireland the holders.
The big difference would see England being replaced by the Republic of Ireland.
"You saw the fallout when England lost to us last September in the World Cup qualifiers," added Sanchez.
"Every England manager would have that fear for all three games and I can see why England are not as interested as the other three countries.
"You have to remember that England have to make big commercial decisions - every game is worth a lot of money and perhaps playing Northern Ireland would not be financially great.
"But there is talk of the Republic of Ireland being interested."
"The tournament would not be at the end of the season but instead it would take part during the season - use up our friendly dates for that tournament."
Scotland manager Walter Smith would also like to see some sort of revival of the old Home Nations tournament.
"Sometimes the friendly matches that we have at international level are not worthwhile having, unless you have one of the bigger countries," said Smith.
"Home internationals were a good thing and I would like to see them brought back."
Award for Northern Ireland fans
The Amalgamation of Northern Ireland Supporters' Clubs has been given a major award for its work in tackling sectarianism and supporting charities.
The Brussels International Supporters' Award, backed by Uefa, was received by Jim Rainey on behalf of the NI fans.
"Jim represents all that is good about the Amalgamation," said Michael Boyd, the IFA's head of community relations.
"Their work has improved the atmosphere at Northern Ireland matches and raised £82,000 for charities."
Rainey said it was great that Northern Ireland supporters had been recognised for their work.
"We have used the spirit of football to extend the hand of friendship around the globe, while never missing an opportunity to help those less fortunate than ourselves," he said.
Hokey Cokey Video
NORTHERN Ireland will kick-off the 2010 World Cup campaign away to Slovakia on September 6. This will be followed by a home game against Czech Republic.
The Northern Ireland boys will play two away and two home games in 2008; with the remaining games being played between February and October 2009.
The full fixture list is as follows:
6 September 2008 - Slovakia (a)
10 September 2008 - Czech Republic (h)
11 October 2008 - Slovenia (a)
15 October 2008 - San Marino (h)
11 February 2009 - San Marino (a)
28 March 2009 - Poland (h)
1 April 2009 - Slovenia (h)
5 September 2009 - Poland (a)
9 September 2009 - Slovakia (h)
14 October 2009 - Czech Republic (a)
