It was certainly a lot more entertaining than the 90 minutes of football that had preceded it.

In difficult conditions and on a poor pitch Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan played out a dull 0-0 draw in October 2004 in a World Cup qualifier.

Our national team, then managed by Lawrie Sanchez, were unfortunately without the suspended David Healy. With his cutting edge I have no doubt Northern Ireland would have won the game as they were the better side.

Azerbaijan's manager,Carlos Alberto - the world famous Brazilian who scored what many believe ranks as the greatest goal ever, finishing a magical move in the 1970 World Cup final when the Samba boys beat Italy 4-1 - didn't see it that way.

In fact he went on an all-out astonishing assault after the match.

"I'm tired of playing s*** football teams like Northern Ireland. They do not play football the way it should be played. It is like volleyball or basketball," he ranted.

In full flow he then launched an attack on how dirty Northern Ireland were.

Never one afraid to offer an opinion myself, I suggested to Alberto that he was talking rubbish.

He stared me down as if engaging in some sort of high noon shoot-out, before going off on another tirade of abuse about the opposition.

I bring this up because just over a year later something similar happened with another famous Brazilian.

This one wasn't in the same league in playing terms as Carlos Alberto, but he was a far superior manager having guided his country to World Cup glory the year before.

I present to you Chelsea's new manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Like he is doing until June 30, Scolari was in charge of Portugal back in November 2005 when he came to Windsor Park for a friendly to take on Northern Ireland.

Sanchez, as we all know, was not one to respect reputations - or IFA contracts, but that's another story.

It may have been deemed a friendly but Lawrie told his players to get amongst the Portuguese superstars and a result was on.

As it turned out, his tactics were correct and a well deserved 1-1 draw was gained against a team who would go on and reach the World Cup semi-finals in 2006.

After the match, Scolari was fuming, blasting: "It was a vulgar match. All they did was interrupt the game. There were some things going on that I didn't like. I was worried my players would get injured."

Sanchez laughed it off. He loved the fact that he had rattled the man known as "Big Phil".

It all begs the question if Sanchez, a failed Premier League manager, can rattle Scolari, what will Sir Alex Ferguson do to him when he arrives with his open chequebook at Stamford Bridge next month?

Fergie is believed to be fuming with suspicion that Scolari has told Cristiano Ronaldo that he would be better off at Real Madrid.

If you thought Mourinho v Ferguson and Wenger v Ferguson were good, wait until you see this battle next season.

I do admire the Brazilian and, despite his awful attitude at Windsor that night, he has shown he is one of the best managers on the planet.

And of course he is a dead ringer and just as tough as that wonderful actor Gene Hackman.

Even so, when this war starts, my money is on the Scot.