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After missing the game with an injury, Josh Magennis has won 82 caps for Northern Ireland. He will feature in BBC Sport NI’s coverage of Saturday’s friendly against Denmark.

It’s night and day, but the attitude toward summer friendlies has changed since I first started.

During one of these windows, I actually made my debut.

We traveled to America under Nigel Worthington, and in 2010 we played Turkey and Chile. I was called in late because so many people left because of injuries or had other plans.

Although I greatly benefited from it, many people were expressing their lack of availability. Gareth McAuley and Stephen Craigan were the only senior pros, along with everyone else who was a member of the Under-21s or early in their careers. &nbsp,

Senior players like Steven Davis toeing the line then allowed the young stars, like Corry Evans, Oli Norwood, to simply follow suit.

His man management and how he treats other men are what distinguishes Michael from other men. He doesn’t manipulate you in any way, either.

He expects you to give everything you have, while when you’re at work, you’re free.

He gives you the guidelines for how to look after yourself, but he doesn’t specify what to do.

And he has that ruthlessness about him that you won’t be around if you discover that someone has been having an affair.

It’s just respect, in my opinion, not a fear factor. Boys are adept at breaking the rules.

The biggest risk factor is injury, but it can happen anywhere at any time if you don’t know where you’ll play next season.

And when your club’s future is uncertain, I believe playing international football has a selling point.

People will be asking if Michael O’Neill is selecting him for senior international football if he plays in League One or Championship because he must possess some qualities.

Going into the summer, I’ve always thought that way.

I enjoy playing for my country, so there is no gray area for me.

If I could say that I played for Northern Ireland last year and that I would have had no issues, even though I was looking for a club if I would get injured and that was one of my final games.

I don’t believe it’s just me; we’re all one. Nobody believes it to be difficult or a chore.

You never realize how much you miss playing for your country until you stop doing it, which is how I’ve always loved it.

Firstly, when Michael wanted to see other players and then when I wasn’t in the squad for March because he knew what I could do, and then when I was unable to play because of my hip surgery.

You miss the camaraderie from the first night, the first conversation, and talking to boys about the season this week.

Josh Magennis spoke with Jonathan Bradley of BBC Sport NI.

French Open 2025 final for women’s singles

Venue: Roland Garros Time: 14: 00 BST Dates: 25 May-8 June

Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff will square off against one another in the French Open for the first time in seven years in a Grand Slam final.

Both Sabalenka and Gauff will be reigning women’s singles champions, with Gauff and Sabalenka competing for second place in the major singles rankings.

Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, finished in second place three years ago, while Sabalenka, a two-time Australian Open champion, will face her in his first Roland Garros final.

In their respective semi-finals, Sabalenka and Gauff fought through two very different difficulties.

Sabalenka, the title favorite, put an impressive three-set win on Iga Swiatek, who had previously defeated her in 26 matches, further cementing her position as title favorite.

Gauff, in contrast, was up against partisans and successfully completed French wildcard Lois Boisson’s fairytale run in straight sets.

With this third major singles final in a row, Sabalenka shows remarkable consistency at the highest level of the sport.

The 27-year-old is the first woman to do so since Serena Williams nine years ago.

Sabalenka leads the WTA Tour with 40 victories in 46 matches, having won seven finals in 10 competitions this year.

Gauff, in contrast, is still a force to reckon with on clay.

The 21-year-old is the youngest woman to reach the finals of Madrid, Rome, and the French Open in the same year while competing for her first title of the season.

In terms of overall head-to-head performance, there is nothing to break between Gauff and Sabalenka.

They each won one major championship, with Sabalenka winning the 2023 US Open final over Gauff, who followed Sabalenka winning the 2024 semi-final against Sabalenka.

Both women have won on clay, with Sabalenka winning the most recent meeting in the Madrid final against Gauff in 2021 while Sabalenka won the Italian Open fourth round.

Given that she has won three of their previous four meetings, Sabalenka might have a slight advantage in Paris.

Sabalenka has always been viewed as a hard-court specialist despite having won all three of her major singles titles on that front.

But she constantly changes her approach. She stifled the clay-court expert’s game with devastating accuracy and kept the key points under control.

When asked how winning the French Open would feel, Sabalenka responded, “It will mean a lot to my team and I.”

I’ve been told [clay] is not my thing almost my entire life, and I didn’t have any confidence at the time.

Gauff is aware of Sabalenka’s expectations, but overcoming them is a different issue.

To withstand Sabalenka’s strength and to entice her into longer rallies, she will need to be at her best defensively.

To maintain pressure on Sabalenka and to provide a platform for developing opportunities based on her tournament-leading tally of converted break points (40), it will be crucial to keep her serve and keep double faults to a minimum.

Gauff predicted that “she’s going to come out swinging and aggressive.”

“I believe I just have to anticipate that and try my best to at least partially counteract that,” she said.

On Saturday, “everything can happen.” I’m anticipating it, and I’m pleased to compete with a world number one as well.