Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BARACLOUGH: BOYS CAN BE QATAR HEROES
NORTHERN Ireland boss Ian Baraclough will challenge his players to follow in the footsteps of World Cup giants in 2021.
It is now almost four decades since the Green and White Army last marched on FIFA’S premier tournament at Spain ‘82 and Mexico ‘86.
And Baraclough has revealed that his New Year resolution is to emulate Billy Bingham’s famous sides of the 1980s.
“We haven’t been to a World Cup since 1986 and we would love to rectify that,” he said.
Northern Ireland’s World Cup fate will be determined across the calendar year, with eight Group C qualifiers lying in wait between March and November.
A tough pool commences with an away trip to group favourites Italy on March 25 followed by a home game with Bulgaria six days later.
The campaign to reach the 2020 finals in Qatar concludes with a home double header in November against Lithuania and the Italians.
Switzerland, who beat Northern Ireland in a controversial World Cup playoff for the
2018 finals, are the other nation in the fiveteam group.
“I know it’s going to be tough, but our aim is to qualify and everybody involved in the set-up is focused on that,” said Baraclough.
“We played well in quite a few of our UEFA Nations League games towards the end of 2020 and we can take great heart from that.”
While Northern Ireland ended the Nations League bottom of their pool, Baraclough took positives from some of the performances against Romania, Norway and Austria.
He was also uplifted by the impact of St Johnstone midfielder Ali Mccann (inset) and Arsenal defender
Daniel Ballard on the senior panel.
Young centre back Ballard, who made his debut in a 1-1 draw in Romania in September, extended his loan spell with League One Blackpool yesterday.
“I want to continue building up game time for the younger players,” said Baraclough.
“I firmly believe the coming years could be special ones for Northern Ireland if these players are allowed to come through and flourish.”
With all of Baraclough’s four home games so far played behind closed doors or with a restricted capacity, the 50-year-old has another hope heading into 2021.
“I don’t want to be the Northern Ireland manager who only got to see his team play in front of just over 1,000 fans in Belfast,” he said.
“I want the chance to lead the team out in front of a full house.”