{"id":857276,"date":"2026-03-29T02:05:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T02:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/857276\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T02:05:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T02:05:21","slug":"sunderland-star-brilliant-for-northern-ireland-display","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/857276\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunderland Star &#8216;Brilliant&#8217; For Northern Ireland Display"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: right;\"> Kate McShane\/Getty Images <\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"single-quote\" style=\"display: block; margin-block-start: 1em; margin-block-end: 1em; margin-inline-start: 0px; margin-inline-end: 0px; margin: 30px 0px; font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold;\">Stuart Dallas has lauded <a style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/insidefutbol.com\/sunderland\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sunderland<\/a> defender Trai Hume for his display during Northern Ireland\u2019s <a style=\"font-size: 20px; color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/insidefutbol.com\/world-cup\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">World Cup<\/a> qualifier against Italy and believes he will learn from the experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Northern Ireland faced the four-time world champions in a challenging World Cup qualifying playoff semi-final on Thursday night and, despite falling to a 2-0 defeat in Bergamo, Michael O\u2019Neill\u2019s side produced a disciplined defensive display that remained a significant positive.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sunderland have seen several of their first-team players excel on the international stage during the current break, with Hume\u2019s standout display for his country further enhancing his growing reputation at the Stadium of Light.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Wearside club currently occupy 11th position in the Premier League table after 31 fixtures and have maintained competitive form in the top flight following the club\u2019s recent 2-1 victory over <a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/insidefutbol.com\/newcastle-united\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Newcastle United<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hume has been a mainstay for the Black Cats this season, starting 29 of his 31 league appearances and recording 57 tackles, 22 interceptions and 152 successful duels to cement his status as a vital component of the starting eleven for Regis Le Bris.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Northern_Ireland_Trai_Hume_620_ofg.webp.webp\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Dallas, who represented Northern Ireland on 62 occasions before his retirement, was particularly impressed by the tenacity shown by the full-back against elite opposition in Italy.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The former <a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/insidefutbol.com\/leeds-united\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Leeds United<\/a> star noted that the defender was among a group of players who reached an exceptional standard on the night.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<tr>\nInternational<br \/>\nCaps<br \/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 2px solid #ddd; padding: 12px; background-color: #fec368; color: black;\" data-darkreader-inline-border-top=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-right=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-bottom=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-left=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-color=\"\">Josh Magennis<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 2px solid #ddd; padding: 12px; background-color: #fec368; color: black;\" data-darkreader-inline-border-top=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-right=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-bottom=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-left=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-color=\"\">87<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 2px solid #ddd; padding: 12px; background-color: #fec368; color: black;\" data-darkreader-inline-border-top=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-right=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-bottom=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-left=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-color=\"\">Paddy McNair<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 2px solid #ddd; padding: 12px; background-color: #fec368; color: black;\" data-darkreader-inline-border-top=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-right=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-bottom=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-left=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-color=\"\">81<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 2px solid #ddd; padding: 12px; background-color: #fec368; color: black;\" data-darkreader-inline-border-top=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-right=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-bottom=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-left=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-color=\"\">George Saville<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 2px solid #ddd; padding: 12px; background-color: #fec368; color: black;\" data-darkreader-inline-border-top=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-right=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-bottom=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-border-left=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor=\"\" data-darkreader-inline-color=\"\">63<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 2px solid #dddddd; padding: 12px; background-color: #fec368; color: black;\">Bailey Peacock-Farrell<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 2px solid #dddddd; padding: 12px; background-color: #fec368; color: black;\">53<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<p>Most capped players in current Northern Ireland squad<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He emphasised that the team understood the necessity of a strong defensive shape and feels that Hume was brilliant in his execution.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While speaking to <a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/live\/c895l8g2wj5t?post=asset%3Ac52509d0-0f03-4099-b20f-bdd6ea8651c7#post\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">BBC One NI<\/a> after the final whistle, the former Northern Ireland stalwart said: \u201cTrai Hume was one of a number of players who were exceptional on the night.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Sunderland_Regis_Le_Bris7_620_ofg.webp.webp\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe knew we would have to defend and Trai was brilliant.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is a big part of Michael\u2019s team and, going forward, he will learn from this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The 24-year-old defender has showcased his attacking capabilities alongside his defensive duties this season, notably providing a crucial assist during the club\u2019s 2-0 victory against <a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/insidefutbol.com\/wolves\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wolves<\/a> earlier in the campaign.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sunderland will look to lean rely heavily on Hume\u2019s development as they continue their campaign, with the Black Cats next set to face <a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/insidefutbol.com\/tottenham-hotspur\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tottenham Hotspur<\/a> in league action at the Stadium of Light on 12th April.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kate McShane\/Getty Images \u00a0 Stuart Dallas has lauded Sunderland defender Trai Hume for his display during Northern Ireland\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":857277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5011],"tags":[1144,69031,16,15],"class_list":["post-857276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-northern-ireland","tag-northern-ireland","tag-trai-hume","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116310017855430789","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}