Norman Whiteside

When Norman Whiteside made his Northern Ireland debut at the 1982 World Cup aged 17 years and 41 days, he became the youngest player in the history of the finals, breaking the record set by Pele 24 years earlier - an achievement that still stands today

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Yugoslavia v Northern Ireland 1982 World Cup, Zaragoza, Spain

The thing about that World Cup was I'd only played about 100 minutes in the First Division before I was chosen to go to Spain. I did watch Northern Ireland qualify for the tournament at Windsor Park but being 16, turning 17 shortly, I didn't think at any stage that I'd be part of that squad.

I had a little whisper from our physiotherapist at Manchester United, Jim McGregor, who was also the physio for Northern Ireland. He was saying little things like: "[Northern Ireland manager] Billy Bingham's been watching you in the reserves." So I had little hints, but I didn't think I was going to walk into the team.

We were in pre-World Cup training down in Brighton. At that time Billy didn't plan to start me, but then I did quite well in the first week. After that, he told me I'd definitely be in the first team. He had all the confidence in me. That was absolutely amazing.