Billy Bingham has been remembered as one of football’s greatest tacticians during a service in Belfast to celebrate his life.
A number of former Northern Ireland internationals gathered with fans for the thanksgiving service at St Anne’s Cathedral.
Delivering a personal tribute, former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill recalled how Bingham took the “monumental decision” to appoint him as the first Catholic captain of Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles.
Bingham was diagnosed with dementia in 2006 and died a year ago aged 90.
As a manager he twice guided Northern Ireland to the World Cup finals, first in 1982 when they famously beat hosts Spain, and again in 1986.
Gerry Armstrong, Billy Hamilton and Jimmy Nicholl were among the other members of the 1982 team to attend the service.
Current Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill, Olympic gold medal-winning athlete Lady Mary Peters and several politicians were also among the congregation.
Martin O’Neill told the service that Bingham appointed him as captain in 1980.
He said: “This would be a big, monumental decision, the first Catholic to be in charge of Northern Ireland as a captain.
“I was very concerned about it because the Troubles were rife.
“He said to me, ‘I’ll take a bit of flak for it but that will dissipate if we win some football matches’.”
O’Neill said the decision was a sign of Bingham’s strength of character.
He added: “He was tactically as astute as any coach I’ve ever worked with.
“He would be up there today with anyone, you talk about (Pep) Guardiola, you talk about these great managers, Billy was a class apart tactically.”
Bingham’s son David told the service his father would have been “incredibly proud” of the turnout.
He added: “He would have been overjoyed, in fact.”
He compared the exploits of the Northern Ireland team in the 1980s to the Biblical story of David and Goliath.
He said: “The story of the Northern Ireland football team, particularly in the first six years of the 1980s, helped to show what happens when a story does not play out as expected.
“Against the backdrop of the Troubles, this was even more unusual at the time.
“I was wondering how best to describe the person responsible for guiding his players in these competitions, the architect of these events.
“What struck me the most was the quality of his absolute and indefatigable winning spirit.”
The memorial service was led by the Dean of Belfast, Rev Stephen Forde.
He said: “Everyone old enough to remember those (World Cup) campaigns remembers how they lifted the spirits of the Northern Ireland community during some of the darkest days of the Northern Ireland Troubles.
“Behind every hero there is an individual person of strengths and weaknesses, for even the most successful of players and managers will also know times of personal disappointment.
“Today we gather to celebrate a footballing giant in the land where giants are part of our folklore.”
Armstrong, who scored the winning goal against Spain in the 1982 World Cup, delivered a reading, as did one of Bingham’s grandsons, Patrick J Lawlor.
Music was provided by the Belfast Community Gospel Choir and pianist Ian Hannah.
Born in east Belfast, Bingham was capped 56 times as a player by Northern Ireland.
He came through the ranks of Glentoran before joining Sunderland in 1950 and going on to have spells with Luton, Everton, whom he later also managed, and Port Vale.
Bingham also played in the Northern Ireland side that reached the quarter-finals of the 1958 World Cup, only to lose to France.
He won the 1962–63 First Division title with Everton before moving into management.
Europa Conference League: Aston Villa stunned by Olympiacos
Aston Villa were stunned by Olympiacos as they suffered a 4-2 home defeat in the Europa Conference League.
On what the Villa faithful hoped would be a famous night at Villa Park, they instead saw their team dispatched by their Greek opponents in the first leg of their semi-final encounter.
Ayoub El Kaabi scored a hat-trick for the visitors, who were 2-0 up inside 30 minutes on Thursday.
Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby struck either side of the interval to restore parity, but El Kaabi sealed his hat-trick from the penalty spot before Santiago Hezze added further gloss with a sensational finish. To add to Villa's misery, Douglas Luiz then missed a penalty late on.
In the other semi-final tie, Fiorentina took a 3-2 aggregate lead against Club Brugge.
M'Bala Nzola was Fiorentina's hero in stoppage time, scoring in the 91st minute to nudge the Serie A team ahead.
Hans Vanaken had scored from a penalty following a VAR check for handball in the 17th minute, cancelling out Riccardo Sottil's early opener, though Fiorentina restored their lead through Andrea Belotti before half-time in a frantic first half.
Thiago equalised for Brugge, but it was ultimately not enough.
Europa League: Wirtz and Andrich goals put Leverkusen on the brink, Marseille hold Atalanta
Bayer Leverkusen put one foot in the Europa League final as Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich scored in Thursday's 2-0 semi-final first-leg win over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma were masters of their own downfall as Wirtz opened the scoring after 28 minutes, Rick Karsdorp's horrible error allowing Alex Grimaldo to race into the area and tee up Wirtz to finish into an unguarded net.
Though Daniele De Rossi's hosts improved after the break, Andrich added a spectacular second with 73 minutes on the clock, the midfielder giving Mile Svilar no chance as he side-footed into the top-left corner from 25 yards out.
Roma should have pulled one back four minutes into stoppage time, but Tammy Abraham could only nod over from inside the six-yard box after a goalmouth scramble, and they now have it all to do in next week's second leg.
Leverkusen's unbeaten run for 2023-24 stands at 47 games across all competitions (39 wins, eight draws), and they are now overwhelming favourites to stamp their ticket to the final in Dublin.
The other semi-final tie remains in the balance at the halfway stage, with Atalanta being pegged back in a 1-1 draw with Marseille at the Stade Velodrome.
Having scored twice in La Dea's memorable win at Anfield in the last round, Gianluca Scamacca took in Teun Koopmeiners' pass before finishing low across goal 11 minutes in, but Gian Piero Gasperini's team couldn't hold on.
Chancel Mbemba was the unlikely goalscorer for Marseille, stepping out of defence to clip a 25-yard effort against the far post and in after 20 minutes.
Neither side could find a winner from there, meaning it's all to play for ahead of next week's return fixture at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo.
Orlando City v FC Cincinnati: Acosta hails visitors for absorbing punches
Luciano Acosta has hailed FC Cincinnati for coming through a testing period as they look to make it three straight wins in MLS play at Orlando City on Saturday.
After going unbeaten through their first six games of the season, Cincinnati suffered back-to-back 2-1 defeats against the New York Red Bulls and CF Montreal.
However, they have since bounced back with two wins over difficult opponents, seeing off Atlanta United and the Colorado Rapids by the same scoreline.
Acosta scored his 44th goal for Cincinnati – the most of any player in franchise history – in that latter game, and he believes their resilience has been key.
"I think it's just about our mentality," Acosta said. "We lost those two games and it was a bit of a punch that woke us up. But now it's about the mentality and getting back to it."
Head coach Pat Noonan said of Acosta: "I think what makes it more impressive is teams are going to try to prevent him from having an impact.
"When you're a key player and you're able to do what he's doing with the focus on stopping you in a lot of ways, that's what is unique."
Orlando, meanwhile, were beaten 2-1 by Toronto FC last week, halting their four-game unbeaten streak and dropping them to 13th in the Eastern Conference.
Forward Duncan McGuire felt the Lions should have taken maximum points from that game and is desperate to atone at Inter&Co Stadium.
"I definitely think we should've won," he said.
"I think how difficult this felt and how this feels for us right now is going to push us and motivate us to train hard all week, to get a win for the fans at home and get the job done."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Orlando City – Duncan McGuire
Maguire scored his fourth goal of the MLS season against Toronto last week – no other Orlando player has netted more than once in 2024.
Those goals have come from an expected goals (xG) figure of 2.7, with the United States international also attempting a team-high 27 shots this campaign.
FC Cincinnati – Luciano Acosta
Acosta has contributed to at least one goal in four straight MLS matches (one goal, three assists).
It is Acosta's fifth streak of four or more straight regular-season games with a goal contribution for Cincinnati, with Brandon Vazquez the only other player to achieve that feat for the team.
MATCH PREDICTION – ORLANDO CITY WIN
Orlando earned a win and a draw against Supporters' Shield winners Cincinnati last season, making them one of two teams (also the New England Revolution) to play Cincinnati twice in the 2023 regular season and not lose either match.
The Lions may just fancy their chances of another positive result against Noonan's men, who have only won one of their last three away games (one draw, one defeat).
Orlando have only lost two of their last 17 regular-season home matches dating back to last April, winning nine and drawing six, so viewers should expect a response to their loss last time out.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Orlando City – 49.3%
FC Cincinnati – 23.6%
Draw – 27.1%
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