Northern Ireland start their World Cup qualifying campaign in Luxembourg on Thursday and face Germany in Cologne on Sunday.Manager Michael O’Neill rotated the captaincy through the Nations League campaign last year and in the friendlies to start 2025, and has handed Hume the armband for September’s double-header.”I’m really proud and happy to do it, but I’ve always said that when I wear the armband it doesn’t really change much for me,” said Hume.”I’ll obviously try my best to do the job at hand and help my team-mates.”Northern Ireland faced Luxembourg in the Nations League campaign last year and, after going two goals up in November, were pegged back to a draw – which was still enough to earn promotion from League C.Hume says recent experience shows it will be “be a tough game”, despite the hosts being the lowest-ranked side in Group A, which also contains Slovakia.”We’ve played them twice very recently in the Nations League and we know it won’t be an easy game. “We drew 2-2 in our last game here, so it’s one we are fully focused on and prepared for.”
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Trai Hume: Northern Ireland helped defender adapt to Premier League
