Conor Bradley, a 21-year-old defender, has expressed his belief that the young Northern Ireland team possesses the potential to evolve into “a really good team.” He made history by captaining his country for the first time during Saturday’s frustrating goalless draw against Belarus in the Nations League.
The match, played behind closed doors in Hungary due to UEFA restrictions, saw Northern Ireland dominate possession and create several scoring opportunities. Despite their efforts, they were unable to secure the critical first goal, which left the players feeling dejected at the final whistle. Bradley commented on this disappointment, stating, “We know how good we are and how good we can be.”
he acknowledged the youthfulness of the squad and the learning curve they are on, but he also highlighted the underlying potential within the team. “If we all just get it clicking together, then we can be a really good team. We’re really looking forward to the future, but we just need to keep trying to get the wins,” he remarked.
Bradley, who plays as a full-back for Liverpool, felt encouraged by the team’s first-half performance, despite feeling “really disappointed” that they could not convert their chances into goals and claim all three points. “I thought the performance was really good,” he noted. “It’s one of the best performances we’ve had for a while, but the ball wouldn’t go in the back of the net. If we got one goal, then we could have got three or four. It was just one of those nights.”
Although Northern Ireland was unable to find the net against Belarus, Bradley took solace in the fact that they managed to keep a clean sheet, especially since it marked the second clean sheet in three Nations League matches. However, the team has struggled to score goals since their opening win against Luxembourg, failing to find the back of the net in their last two matches. Interestingly, all six of Northern Ireland’s last goals in competitive fixtures have been scored by defenders, with Bradley contributing three of them. The last forward to score for the team was Jamie Reid, who netted in a draw with Romania back in March.
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Bradley admitted that scoring goals is “probably the hardest thing to do in football” but remains optimistic that Northern Ireland can improve their goal-scoring abilities. “We struggled with it [on Saturday], but I’m sure there are other nights when we could have scored two or three,” he said. He emphasized the importance of hard work and team cohesion as they seek to overcome this challenge, expressing confidence that they would find a way to turn their fortunes around in front of goal.
As he reflected on his debut as captain, Bradley shared his pride in leading the Northern Ireland team. He is eager for the opportunity to captain the team again in their upcoming match against Bulgaria at Windsor Park on Tuesday. However, he is also aware that manager Michael O’Neill intends to rotate the captaincy throughout the Nations League, and he respects the final decision of the coach regarding who will wear the armband.
“It was pretty surreal walking out with the boys behind me and having the armband was pretty special,” Bradley expressed, revealing the significance of the moment to him. He added, “I’m just really proud. I think it will be a bit nicer if fans are there, but we’ll leave that down to Michael to see who he thinks should be the captain on Tuesday.”
Overall, Bradley’s statements reflect a sense of hope and determination within the team. As they continue to develop, he believes that the combination of their talent and youthful energy can lead to success in the future, as long as they maintain their focus on improvement and teamwork.
