Northern Ireland 3 - 2 Spain

"It's a funny 'ole game"! A few days ago the Northern Ireland faithful had faces as long as Crouch's legs, but today they're the happiest folk on planet Earth.

A hard fought victory with a superb hat-trick from Healy put the Northern Ireland's Euro 2008 qualifying campaign back on track. Ok, so Spain didn't play to their best, but you can't take anything away from Sanchez's men. They had the passion and the determination and thoroughly determined the victory.

Despite Roy Carroll starting the game, he was forced off after just 12 minutes. Hi replacement was Taylor who had to pick the ball out of the back of his net after two minutes.

Northern Ireland drew level six minutes later with Healy pouncing on a mistake by Xavi Alonso who messed up clearing a ball and then tried to head it back to his keeper, unfortunately for the Liverpool player, Healy was quick to take advantage of the error.

Spain went ahead on 51 minutes with David Villa scoring as a result of a Northern Ireland defensive mix-up.

Northern Ireland didn't give up. The players kept their heads up and Healy blasted to convert a rehearsed Clingan free-kick to make it 2-2.

Spain could have taken the lead again with a Raul long-range shot. But the luck was with the men in green as it came back off the woodwork.

The game had an Northern Ireland Victory all over it. And the victory became an actuality as Healy got his third of the night when he fantastically lobed the Spanish keeper.

There was a fair bit of clever time-wasting at the end. But who cares, Northern Ireland came away with a very deserved three points.

Game Rating: 9/10

Northern Ireland: Carroll, Duff, Aaron Hughes, Craigan, Evans, Gillespie, Clingan, Davis, Baird, Healy, Lafferty. Subs: Taylor, McAuley, Feeney, Elliott, McCann, Quinn, Jones.

Spain: Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Puyol, Pablo, Antonio Lopez, Albelda, Xavi, Alonso, Torres, Villa, Raul. Subs: Reina, Salgado, Marchena, Reyes, Luis Garcia, Iniesta, Fabregas.

Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)