McConville Faces Mbappe Challenge
There are few greater tests for a defender than facing Kylian Mbappe, and Ruairi McConville hopes the experience will stand him in good stead for the new Championship campaign.
The 21-year-old was handed that challenge last month, starting at the heart of Northern Ireland's defence tasked with containing France's star-studded attack in Lille during Les Bleus' World Cup preparations.
Mbappe was joined in the line-up by Bayern Munich's Michael Olise and Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League-winning duo Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue.
While the French ran out 3-1 winners in their tournament swansong on home soil, Michael O'Neill's side acquitted themselves well in what McConville described as a valuable learning experience.
"Unbelievable. I think I learned so much from that game, even just getting to share a pitch with some of those players," he said while speaking at the Canaries Fan Hub.
Learning from World-Class Opponents
"We did well for ourselves. It was a good game with so much to learn from and take into the season," McConville added.
He expressed hope that as he gains more international experience, he will continue to have opportunities to play against top-level opposition.
McConville had hoped to spend his summer in North America, but Northern Ireland's play-off semi-final defeat to Italy in March ended their World Cup dream.
Five of his City team-mates, however, went on to experience football's biggest stage. They have now all linked up with Philippe Clement's squad ahead of the final two pre-season friendlies, and McConville is delighted to have them back.
“It's great to even say you've got five boys coming back from playing in the World Cup. It's a great thing to have, and credit to them for putting themselves in that position,” McConville said.
Building Stronger Defensive Partnerships
One of those returning is Jose Cordoba, who forged a strong partnership alongside McConville last term, and the pair are keen to build on that understanding this season.
“Yeah, we'll try to. Again, it's however the manager chooses to play, but I'm sure we'll be ready,” he stated.
“Whether it's Jose and me, Jose and Harry, whoever it is, I'm sure we all have the same goal this year,” admitted the defender.
“We all want to be Premier League footballers. We all want to play at the highest level. Game by game, we'll be ready for whatever comes our way,” he concluded.
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