Jonny Evans hungry for more with Northern Ireland as 100th cap approaches
- Published
Evans made his 99th Northern Ireland appearance in Saturday's win over Kosovo
Jonny Evans says he intends to continue playing international football for "as long as I can" as he approaches his 100th Northern Ireland cap.
The centre-back is set to become the country's fourth male centurion against Greece on Tuesday.
The milestone will come 16 years after his debut in the famous 3-2 home win over a star-studded Spain.
Evans made his 99th appearance in Saturday's 2-1 win over Kosovo, finishing the game as captain.
"I came in tonight and had a little video of my boy, he's going to be three in November, he's got his Northern Ireland kit on and he's singing all the way to the stadium," said Evans after the game.
"My wife said 'there's no way you can retire, you've got to keep playing', things like that make you just want to enjoy it. You're doing it for your family and for other people.
"I used to love going to watch my dad play amateur league football. As a kid you're always looking up, and I think they're proud of me.
"They come to the Northern Ireland games and hopefully they can come to many more."
A virtual ever-present in the starting line-up when fit, the Leicester City skipper was part of the side that reached the knockout stages of Euro 2016.
Many of his caps have been won alongside his younger brother Corry, who made his debut in 2010 before scoring his first international goal later that year as Northern Ireland beat Slovenia.
"For me that's one of the highlights of my international career even though I didn't play in the game," reflected Jonny Evans.
"I can only imagine what that must feel like for my mum, dad and everyone in the family watching both of us do that.
"What makes it special is the people. When we meet up there are not usually big changes in the squad, sometimes it's the same people you've been playing with for years and years.
"It always feels like a wider family in a way, that's always been the case here and that's the beauty of it.
"There's such a familiarity between everyone, and when new players come in there's always that want to make them feel welcome and we've always done that well."
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