Northern Ireland almost having their hands on the UFWC trophy after nearly 86 years again
Netherlands 3-1 Northern Ireland
10th October 2019
De Kuip, Rotterdam (75') 0:1 J. Magennis
(80') 1:1 M. Depay
(90+1') 2:1 L. de Jong
(90+4') 3:1 M. Depay
There is no other team in UFWC history which is waiting to win the Unofficial World Championships another time than Northern Ireland. Ahead of UFWC Match #961 versus reigning champion Netherlands the last time was on 14th October 1933 that a northern irish team went into a title match as the current champion, losing it to England at that time. And ahead of the encounter in Rotterdam nobody could have guessed how close the Green and White Army might come to that glorious feeling again ... The Ttm from Northern Ireland entered the match with the right attitude meeting the dutch with patience and team spirit. Result was a not very entertaining 1st half, but the score of 0-0 at halftime made the match open and might have also boosted green and white hopes for further achievements in the 2nd half - and what a explosion of emotions that was in the 75th minute when Josh Magennis' header put the dreamers into 1-0 lead. But did joy last long? No - as incredible Memphis Depay equalized just 5 minutes later! But still some northern irish hopes were rescued to be alive until the match is over. Is that after 90 minutes? Not always ... so the dutch made advantage of stoppage time and scored 2 late goals to turn the result into a 3-1 defeat of their UFWC title! What a drama in Rotterdam. If you want to stay up-to-date on all things UFWC follow us on facebook or twitter!