Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill saw Liam Boyce go from last summer's odd man out to this June's headline act.

Liam Boyce scored his first Northern Ireland goal in the win over New Zealand to stake his claim for a starting berth in next week's World Cup qualifier in Azerbaijan.

Son Heung-min hit a brace as Tottenham kept their Premier League title ambitions alive with a comprehensive win over a poor Watford side at White Hart Lane.

Both countries won one game and exited Euro 2016 at the same stage, but what would the best combined Republic and Northern Ireland team look like? Brendan O’Brien, who swapped between the camps during the tournament and covered all eight games, makes his selection.

Northern Ireland 1 Slovenia 0: Northern Ireland eclipsed Billy Bingham’s team of the mid 1980s by stretching their unbeaten run into double figures, as they beat Slovenia 1-0 in their friendly in Belfast last night.

Wales 1 Northern Ireland 1

However the likelihood of Chelsea playing European football next term receded further.

Watford 2 Newcastle 1

There was late drama at Old Trafford, where new Southampton signing Charlie Austin scored with just three minutes left to secure a 1-0 Premier League win over Manchester United.

Watford 1 Tottenham 2: If Tottenham have ambitions to do more than simply finish in the top four, they will need more performances like this, where they showed character and resilience to grind out a somewhat fortuitous victory against a Watford side reduced to 10 men for the final half-hour.

Alex Ferguson may be long retired, but his influence will still be felt at Euro 2016 in the shape of resurgent Northern Ireland.

Kyle Lafferty and Oliver Norwood were denied in a tense finale as Northern Ireland’s crunch Euro 2016 qualifier against Romania ended in stalemate at Windsor Park.

Chelsea 3 Watford 0

Chelsea powered into the fourth round of the FA Cup as second-half goals from Willian, Loic Remy and Kurt Zouma completed a 3-0 victory over Watford.

Azerbaijan 2 Northern Ireland 0

Martin Paterson's first-half header ended Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill's long wait for a victory as his side recorded a well-earned win over Russia at Windsor Park.

Malta 0 Northern Ireland 0

Crystal Palace 2 Blackpool 2

Northern Ireland’s record scorer David Healy claimed he would “die a happy man” after ending his long wait for another goal at Windsor Park.

Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill is facing a long period of soul-searching after his side were held at home by lowly Azerbaijan last night.

Northern Ireland 1 Azerbaijan 1

Northern Ireland 1 Azerbaijan 1

Portugal 1 Northern Ireland 1

Northern Ireland 1 Luxembourg 1

Robin van Persie’s 30th international set the Netherlands on their way to a hard-fought 2-0 victory in their opening World Cup qualifier against Turkey last night.

Russia 2 Northern Ireland 0

Michael O’Neill is crossing his fingers that Jonny Evans will be fit enough to feature from the start in his first competitive games as Northern Ireland manager.

Steven Davis is Northern Ireland’s new captain after being appointed as Aaron Hughes’ successor by manager Michael O’Neill.

Italy 3 Northern Ireland 0

NORTHERN IRELAND’S slim hopes of a Euro 2012 play-off – and possibly Nigel Worthington’s prospects of a new contract – were finally extinguished with a second defeat at the hands of lowly Estonia.

Northern Ireland 1 Estonia 2

Northern Ireland’s hopes of reaching Euro 2012 were reduced to tatters in Tallinn as a series of individual mistakes left them on the wrong end of a humbling defeat by Estonia.

Northern Ireland 0 Serbia 1

Northern Ireland 4 Faroe Islands 0

Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni again hit out at missing players after watching his side crush 10-man Northern Ireland 5-0 last night.

AT the start last night, the talk was all about those who chose to stay away, from James McCarthy and Marc Wilson to the boycotting Northern Ireland fans to the many thousands of locals who found they had better things to be doing on a sunny evening in early summer than coming to the Aviva Stadium.

Robbie Keane admitted he had been “desperate” to stay on and go for his hat-trick before being substituted following his two-goal haul in tonight’s 5-0 hammering of rivals Northern Ireland.

Republic of Ireland 5 Northern Ireland 0

Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington has no fresh injuries ahead of their game against Republic of Ireland.

Blackpool 4 Bolton 3

THE Premier League has fallen out of love with Wigan a little but beyond the grey perception of a half-empty ground in a rugby league town, there is side brimming with youth and vigour.

Blackpool 1 Wigan 3