O'Neill's NI can get 'better and better' - McIlroy

Former Northern Ireland manager Sammy McIlroy sees similarities with Michael O'Neill's current crop and the team he inherited in the year 2000.

O'Neill, who in his original spell at the helm guided Northern Ireland to their first major finals in 30 years at Euro 2016, returned to the post last year but his side defeated only San Marino across his first nine fixtures.

They would finish an otherwise disappointing Euro 2024 qualifying campaign by beating Denmark 2-0 at Windsor Park, however, following up that victory with a creditable away draw in Romania before defeating Scotland at Hampden Park.

With only three players in O'Neill's 26-man squad for the upcoming friendlies against Spain and Andorra over the age of 30, McIlroy thinks the team is going to make steady progress.

"Michael is in the situation that I was in, having to play with a lot of young kids," he told BBC Sport NI.

"There's a lot coming through, to be fair. They look decent and I think that squad is going to get better and better."

Just as O'Neill has had to deal with the retirements of Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas and Craig Cathcart in recent months, McIlroy took over the side shortly after Iain Dowie's final game for Northern Ireland, while the likes of Gerry Taggart, Steve Lomas and Michael Hughes were coming to the end of long international careers.

One of the first young players trusted by McIlroy was David Healy, then a Manchester United reserve team player recently sent on loan to Port Vale, who went on to become the Northern Ireland side's all-time top marksman with 36 goals.

This week marked the 20th anniversary of the former Leeds United and Rangers striker breaking his country's men's scoring record while his very first goals came on debut in McIlroy's opening game in charge against Luxembourg.

"With David's goals, nobody could have predicted that," McIlroy said. "We'd never had a prolific goalscorer. Go back to George Best's days, or back to my day, playing with Gerry [Armstrong] or Colin Clarke, we were never prolific scorers.

"So I'd nothing to lose by throwing David in. When I went in people were coming towards the end of their careers and I just thought, throw the kid in. He scored and the thing was that he just kept scoring."

While his winning goal in a World Cup qualifier against England at Windsor Park is certainly another contender, likely Healy's most memorable night in the green jersey came against Saturday's opponents Spain, his hat-trick in a 3-2 win in 2006 beating a side who would go on and dominate international football for the next several years.

McIlroy enjoyed some red letter days against the Spanish himself, from his debut in 1972, through to his role in the unforgettable World Cup triumph in 1982, and a 0-0 draw at Windsor Park in 2003 that was perhaps his best result as his country's manager.

Fifty two years on, McIlroy's memories of his first cap remain remarkably clear.

Being stood up by Manchester United team-mate George Best on the train platform, rooming with his soon-to-be midfield partner Martin O'Neill, and the physical nature of the Spanish opposition in a game that finished 1-1, can all be recalled vividly.

If he has one regret about the occasion, which came when he was just 17-years-old and three months on from his United debut, it is that the game was played in the unusual location of Hull City's Boothferry Park due to the political unrest at the time in Belfast.

"Everything was going like a rollercoaster. I didn't have time to be nervous. Everything was going so quick.," McIlroy recalled.

"Even though I was still excited, and my mum and dad got over from Belfast to watch the game, there was that little tinge of sadness that it wasn't at Windsor Park."

When Northern Ireland next met Spain, it was 10 years later at a World Cup.

The 1-0 win secured that night in Valencia against the tournament hosts, a victory that sent Northern Ireland through to the next round, remains the country's most famous result.

Reflecting before the two sides meet once again in Palma on Saturday night, McIlroy feels the achievement only seems greater through the passing of time.

"Spain were a little bit taken aback, they thought they could bully us, manhandle us, but that team, there was nobody who was going to fold there.

"When you're playing, when you're in the moment, you don't appreciate how big an achievement it was.

"From 1980/81 to '86, that squad was unbelievable. Those days will never leave me, it was a privilege."