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Northern Ireland national football team
European Championship | Qualifiers
Mar 29, 2015 at 5pm UK
 
Finland national football team

2-1

Lafferty (33', 38')
FT(HT: 2-0)
Sadik (91')

Aaron Hughes: 'Finland match is huge for qualification hopes'

Northern Ireland defender Aaron Hughes is adamant that his side have to seize the initiative in their Euro 2016 group by beating Finland at Windsor Park.

Northern Ireland defender Aaron Hughes feels that his side's clash against Finland is crucial to their hopes of qualifying for Euro 2016.

Michael O'Neill's men have taken nine points from their opening four matches of their qualifying campaign, and Hughes has insisted that he and his teammates have to seize the chance to put themselves in an extremely strong position in Group F at the halfway stage.

He told reporters: "There has been a lot of talk about the importance of the match. That's due to the fact if we win, it would put us in the position of a three-horse race for qualification rather than four.

"On the flip side if they were to win, it throws them back in the mix and it becomes a real scramble for the top three places then.

"The result and the benefit of getting a good result in terms of where it will leave the group is why it is so big."

Hughes will become Northern Ireland's most-capped outfield player on Sunday when he earns his 96th cap at Windsor Park.

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Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill on the touchline during the World Cup qualifier against Portugal on September 6, 2013
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Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Germany Germany00000
2 Hungary Hungary00000
3 Scotland flag Scotland00000
4 Switzerland Switzerland00000

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Albania national flag Albania00000
2 Croatia Croatia00000
3 Italy Italy00000
4 Spain Spain00000

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Denmark Denmark00000
2 England flag England00000
3 Serbia Serbia00000
4 Slovenia Slovenia00000

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Austria Austria00000
2 France France00000
3 Netherlands Netherlands00000
4 Poland Poland00000

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Belgium Belgium00000
2 Romania Romania00000
3 Slovakia Slovakia00000
4 Ukraine Ukraine00000

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Czech Republic Czech Republic00000
2 Georgia Georgia00000
3 Portugal Portugal00000
4 Turkey Turkey00000


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