Brunt eyes Russia swansong
CHRIS BRUNT says Northern Ireland’s elder statesmen are driven by a desire to feature at a World Cup finals before they call it a day.
Defender Brunt scored a free-kick in a 2-0 success over the Czech Republic in Belfast on Monday night to take Michael O’Neill’s men to the brink of a play-off in November that would determine if they qualify for Russia next summer. No Northern Irishman has graced that stage since 1986.
Aaron Hughes and Gareth McAuley, both 37, and Brunt, 32, will likely not be around for Qatar in 2022, while captain Steven Davis, goalkeeper Michael McGovern and Niall McGinn are all in their thirties too.
At least all of those have featured at a major tournament, having been involved at the Euros in France last summer, which Brunt sat out because of a knee injury.
“You came away for x amount of years with Northern Ireland and a lot of times you would go back depressed – a lot of us have seen those times,” said Brunt.
“The younger lads are lucky because it wasn’t always like now, so if we can get to the World Cup that would be great. That’s part of the reason after my injury that the lads made it a bit more appealing to come back and if things hadn’t have been going that well it may not have been the case.
“But for a few of us now it’s probably the last-chance saloon for a tournament and obviously I didn’t get to experience the last one, so it would be great if that happens.”