1st (joint) – Gareth McAuley – Northern Ireland, 2005/06
Gareth McAuley was called up five times by Northern Ireland during his time with the Imps, all between June 2005 and May 2006. Northern Ireland were 105th in the world during that time, and I had to toy with the idea of him being first or second. In the end, I bottled it and picked two in first.
McAuley played in fixtures against Germany (June 2005) and Portugal (November 2005), both times coming on as a sub. In March, he started against Estonia, and got a second start against Romania in May, after a sub appearance against Uruguay.
Two starts put him up there, and these were the first caps in a long international career. McAuley made history at Euro 2016 by scoring Northern Ireland’s first goal at a major tournament for 30 years in a win over Ukraine, becoming one of the oldest scorers in European Championship history as the team claimed their first-ever Euros victory.
He later suffered the misfortune of scoring an own goal, which knocked Northern Ireland out against Wales, before becoming the oldest scorer in European World Cup qualifying at the age of 36 with a goal against Azerbaijan later that year. In total, he won 80 caps for his country.
You must be logged in to post a comment.