For one Liverpool player, tonight will be a special occasion in what has already been a momentous year on the pitch for him.
When Northern Ireland take to the pitch for their UEFA Nations League clash against Belarus, they’ll be led out by Conor Bradley, who’ll captain his country for the first time on what’ll be his 20th cap for the Ulstermen.
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Speaking ahead of the match in the neutral territory of Hungary, Michael O’Neill revealed that he sounded out key figures at the 21-year-old’s club before taking the decision to hand him the armband.
The Northern Ireland manager said in relation to awarding Bradley the captaincy (via liverpoolfc.com): “I think Conor has shown a lot of maturity. I’ve spoken to a lot of people at Liverpool and got their opinion, and they felt it was something he would handle.
“One thing I’ve found working with Conor is that he is very, very grounded, very serious about his football, and we obviously see that in his level of performance.”
Bradley’s tally of international caps (19) is just over half of his overall appearances for Liverpool (34), but he hasn’t taken long at Anfield to demonstrate why O’Neill had no qualms about bestowing the right-back the honour of captaining his country.
He’d played a handful of domestic cup games in 2021/22, but it wasn’t until Trent Alexander-Arnold’s injury at the start of this year that the Northern Ireland youngster was truly integrated into the Reds’ first team, and to say that he met the challenge head-on would be an understatement.
In just his second Premier League apperance he capped a starring performance against Chelsea with a goal and two assists, getting the better of the Blues once more just four weeks later in a youthful LFC line-up in the Carabao Cup final.
Only the sheer brilliance of the England international at right-back has prevented Bradley from featuring more often for Liverpool, although Arne Slot has used the 21-year-old as a substitute on a few occasions this season.
Making him Northern Ireland captain is evidently not a decision that O’Neill made lightly, so the Tyrone native can feel rightly proud of securing that big an achievement at such a young age. Who knows, it might be a step towards him wearing the armband at Anfield further down the line!
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