Euro 2020 play-off final: Why Leicester City's Jonny Evans is Northern Ireland's 'best ever defender'

Evans has won 87 Northern Ireland caps, scoring four goals

"It's difficult to compare players across generations, but I think Jonny probably is the best defender Northern Ireland have ever had."

Fernando Torres could have been forgiven for wondering who the 18-year-old lining up against him for Northern Ireland was - but Aaron Hughes was well aware.

Plucked from the Under-21 squad by manager Lawrie Sanchez just days before, Jonny Evans had been thrust into his senior international debut against Spain at Windsor Park having not made an appearance for his club, Manchester United.

That September 2006 night in Belfast will forever be remembered by Northern Ireland fans for the landmark 3-2 win over a team that would go on to win a World Cup and back-to-back European Championships.

It also launched what has become a stellar international career for Evans who, as well as his inexperience, was facing one of the world's best forwards in Torres. And, as a centre-half playing at left-back, doing so out of position.

Playing in the middle of the home back four that night was Hughes. While many supporters may have been wondering who the new kid was, the then captain was more in the know.

"I had heard people speaking about Jonny a lot," he recalled.

"Once he came into the squad you could just tell straight away that he was something special. It was obvious that a lot of what was being said about him was very true.

"To come into a game of that size in that atmosphere against a team of that calibre, and cruise through it like he was playing his 50th cap, really was fantastic."

Hughes and Evans played many times in defence together for Northern Ireland

Eighty-six caps later, Evans, now 32, stands on the brink of reaching back-to-back Euros with Northern Ireland as they face their biggest match for years in Thursday's Euro 2020 play-off final against Slovakia at Windsor Park.

The Leicester City man's importance to his side's hopes of qualification has been well documented recently, and Hughes believes it cannot be overstated.

"I look at Jonny and he doesn't really have any weaknesses," said Hughes, himself a Northern Ireland icon having won 112 international caps and been part of the squad that went to the 2016 Euros in France.

"He can do everything a modern defender needs to do. He is great in possession, has pace, is a good organiser and brings calmness to everyone around him.

"When you add all those attributes together, how important he is to his teams and the medals he has won with Manchester United, I think it would be hard to find another Northern Ireland defender who can match him."

Learning from Van Gaal before United release

Evans and McAuley played key roles for Northern Ireland at the Euro 2016 finals

Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough will be hugely relieved to be able to call upon Evans' composure, authority and technical ability after the former Greenisland Boys graduate overcame a fitness scare to play in Leicester's win over Wolves on Sunday.

Gareth McAuley, another defensive stalwart who was a huge favourite with the Green and White Army, partnered Evans at centre-half for a lot of his 80 caps. Having also played with him for West Brom, he is well placed to put his former team-mate's value in context.

"I was watching Leicester's game while coming to Northern Ireland on the boat on Sunday and my mouth fell open when Jonny went down late on. I was shouting 'Brendan, get him off' at the TV," he said.

"A lot of people talk about what Steven Davis brings to the team - and rightly so - but it seems like it is Jonny that holds everything together with his organising."

Evans won three Premier League titles and two League Cups with United, though it was perhaps not until he signed for West Brom in 2015 that his ability began to be more widely appreciated, with his reputation enhanced even further under Brendan Rodgers at Leicester.

While it was Louis van Gaal who released Evans from Old Trafford, McAuley revealed that his team-mate has the utmost respect for what he learned under the Dutchman.

"He would talk about his time under Van Gaal, and what he learned from him in terms of taking the ball under pressure and when to release it.

"If you watch him, he will put his foot on the ball and draw players to him before releasing the pass. Van Gaal let him go but he was a big influence. I think leaving United was the best thing that could have happened to him as his game has really kicked on since then."

A 'normal' lad who keeps his medals in a shopping bag

Evans is currently top of the Premier League table with Leicester, who he joined in 2018

Playing together for club and country saw McAuley and Evans forge a strong centre-half partnership, which the now retired former Rangers and Coleraine man says was based on mutual trust.

"We knew what the other one was going to do. If Jonny went tight, I would cover and we used those principles in all areas of the pitch," he explained.

"In some partnerships there is one dominant talker but with us it was more understanding than anything. We both communicated, although Jonny liked to talk to our midfielders so I let him get on with that.

"Passing information to midfielders and organising them in front of us was something he was very keen on. Just ask Ollie Norwood - Jonny used to be on at him throughout the whole 90 minutes of matches."

Away from the pitch, McAuley said one word summed his friend up best.

"Normal. No airs or graces. He has played in all of these top games across Europe and won all these medals with Manchester United, but I think he keeps them in a shopping bag lying under his bed. He comes in, does his training, gets on with all the boys and goes home to his family."

'He could play in any position'

Stephen Craigan said Evans did not need much help during his international debut against Spain

Stephen Craigan partnered Hughes at the centre of defence against Spain in 2006, and the former Motherwell man believes Evans could have played in midfield, such is his technical ability.

"His presence inspires players and he brings a calmness to proceedings. It's as if the game almost stops for him when he is in possession, and there are very few players that happens for," Craigan said.

"His reading of the game is superb. Very seldom do you see him making tackles; most of the time he nips in front of people or uses his experience to step off into clever positions.

"Jonny's style allows our full-backs to be a bit more aggressive because he can defend one against one and that doesn't faze him. There doesn't always have to be an overload in defence."

Craigan feels Evans may have been taken for granted at Old Trafford and that none of the defenders they have signed since letting him go compare.

"Manchester United would be a better team now with Jonny in it, no question. He came through the academy and perhaps his name just wasn't sexy enough, but that will not have bothered him. He has got on with his career and is excelling at Leicester now."

Fourteen years on from that memorable debut as an unknown teenager, he will be aiming to excel once against against Slovakia.

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