Our Wee Country.

"Oh my eyes have seen the glory" is the opening line to the infamous "We're Not Brazil We're Northern Ireland" song. It is without doubt that we have had our highs (if not to the same extent as many other countries...) and our mega- lows. But one thing we do share is our passion for the beautiful game.

Ouch

Much like the rugby, our nation started out as a United Ireland football team with players from both sides of the border in the same team. The first professional game was one against the ol' enemy from across the water. This ended in a 13-0 drubbing in favour of our English opponents. This score still stands to be our biggest ever defeat and England's biggest ever victory. Since then, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have split forming two different teams.

The Belfast Boy

Our Wee Country has produced many national legends and arguably a very talented yet haywire product in George Best. He is described by the Irish Football Association as "the greatest player to ever pull on the green shirt of Northern Ireland." A career which was ruined by drink, drugs and a hedonistic lifestyle meant that he only appeared 37 times in a green jersey. A very disappointing sight for Northern Irish fans. And a talented wasted.

Espana '82

The last 'Norn Iron' reached the finals of any major tournament. The tournament also saw the international debut of Norman Whiteside in our first match against Yugoslavia which ended 0-0. At the tender age of seventeen years old - the same age as, might I add - he was the youngest player ever to play in the World Cup Finals, and that record still stands to this day. Another draw against Honduras meant that they needed a victory against the hosts to progress. Gerry Armstrong scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 victory Spain in front of a hostile crowd. A proud moment in Northern Irish history. The glory didn't last too long as we were dumped out by France in the quarter finals. But nonetheless, it was a nice trip to Spain for the fans.

Close, but no Cigar

Since then, Euro 2008 was the closest Northern Ireland got to qualifying for a major competition. In a group with eventual tournament winners Spain, Northern Ireland finished third behind Spain in first and Sweden in second. A real chance missed. We turned Windsor Park into a Fortress winning five out of the six games. The away record was something else, with only five points collected out of a possible eighteen.

The Little Man from Killyleagh, Healy, Healy

One of our home victories was against tournament favourites Spain. A terrific solo performance from Ulster's number 9, David Healy saw him net a hat trick against arguably the best goalkeeper in the world, Iker Casillas. Something which I believe hasn't been done to date... (Correct me if I'm wrong!) He bagged another ten goals to make him top goal scorer for the qualifying campaign. These were just thirteen of the thirty-six goals he scored for the Green And White Army, making him Northern Ireland's all time top goal scorer.

Healy Wonderland

"The Englishmen came over in the year 2005, but little did they know that we had planned a wee surprise, Sir David scored the winner, Windsor Park went wild, and this is what we sang..." Yes, this certainly was a moment to savour in our long and sometimes difficult history, A star studded England team arrived in Northern Ireland containing Chelsea star, Frank Lampard in the middle of the park with free kick maestro David Beckham on the wing, along with Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Ashley Cole. A 74th winner from our record goal scorer, ably assisted by Steven Davis, sent England home with their tails between their legs and asked questions over the tactics of Sven Goran Eriksson. Even though England beat us 4-0 previously, we prefer to remember the golden points of our history, which is a rarity indeed. So please, give us our moment in the spotlight.

What seems like a tradition for Northern Ireland, is to bring their 'A' game to the big teams yet squander valuable points against the minnows. A too familiar unfortunate sight. Although short and sweet, we, the fans, savour these moments and wait to prey on the next 'big gun' to arrive in the capital, complacent, and then to spring a surprise.