Michael O’Neill's side played their first match on Thursday against Luxembourg, winning 2-0 – thanks to goals from Paddy McNair and Dan Ballard in the first half in Northern Ireland’s first game since the retirement of Jonny Evans from international football.
The Green and White Army then travelled to Bulgaria in their second UEFA Nations League match, losing 1-0 to a Kiril Despodov goal on Sunday evening.
The Republic of Ireland however, started their UEFA Nations League campaign against arch-rivals England at the Aviva Stadium. However, former Ireland internationals Declan Rice and Jack Grealish scored for England – giving the Three Lions an opening victory of their respective campaign under former Ireland player Lee Carsley.
On Tuesday night, Heimir Hallgrimsson’s men lost 0-2 to Greeece after two second half goals from Fotis Ioannidis and Christos Tzolis, leaving the new Ireland manager winless in his opening two matches.
Hello reader, I'm Ben. I love to write and talk about sports and I am, unfortunately, hopeless at golf. Thanks for reading!
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