Charles will ‘cherish’ NI debut alongside brother

While Northern Ireland’s 0-0 draw with Belarus on Saturday night will not live long in the memory of most, debutant Pierce Charles says he hopes to one day be telling grandkids about the Nations League stalemate.

With goalkeepers Bailey Peacock-Farrell and Conor Hazard both missing the game through injury, Michael O’Neill opted for the Sheffield Wednesday stopper between the posts having been impressed by his performances for the country’s under-21s this year.

The 19-year-old was largely untroubled throughout his first senior cap, an occasion made all the more special by his clean sheet coming alongside his elder brother Shea, who started in midfield.

“To play alongside Shea, it’s the dream,” he told BBC Sport NI.

“When we were playing in the garden as kids we’d act it out, and now it’s become real. I can’t really believe it.

“It’s a moment we can cherish for a lifetime, hopefully show our kids in the future, grandkids, who knows? Just a really proud moment for us both.”

The younger Charles brother occasionally found himself the game’s sole spectator with the majority of the action taking place at the other end of the empty ZTE-Arena in a fixture played behind closed doors in western Hungary due to Uefa restrictions on Belarus.

Northern Ireland had 15 shots on the opposition goal, although all seven occasions that they hit the target came in the first half.

“It was a good game,” Charles added.

“There wasn’t anything too challenging [personally]. It was obviously annoying in the first half, plenty of chances, just wish we could have taken them and gone into half time leading.

“To keep a clean sheet means you can’t lose and that’s what we did.”

With Northern Ireland in action again on Tuesday night when hosting Bulgaria at Windsor Park in the second leg of this Nations League doubleheader, Charles is hoping to experience a contrasting atmosphere.

“[The debut] just makes me want to do it more and more,” he said.

“Playing away with no fans, with the fans there it just would have been that extra boost.

“It’s hard sometimes with no fans to get going, but I thought the team did that well and on another night we’d win.”

‘A dream come true’ for former Larne man Bonis

Charles was not O’Neill’s only debutant of the evening with Ado Den Haag striker Lee Bonis coming on for his first cap with a quarter of an hour remaining.

The former Portadown and Larne man, who scored a hat-trick for his Dutch club last time out, echoed Charles in finding that the empty stadium offered an odd atmosphere for such a significant milestone.

“It is a bit weird going out on the pitch with no noise, so it’s a bit disappointing,” he said.

“It’s a dream come true to play for your country, unfortunate about the result, but we go again Tuesday.”

Having had to wait for his Northern Ireland bow – Bonis was called into the squad for Euro 2024 qualifiers against Denmark and Kazakhstan last year but did not feature – the 25-year-old is hoping for another taste of international football in this window.

“I’ll take any minutes I can get at this stage, but it would be nice to get some back home in front of fans.

“We had chances to win the game, and we didn’t take them which we’ll have to try fix for the next game.”