AHEAD OF THIS evening’s international friendly in Liège, we’ve been looking back on one of the greatest days in the nation’s sporting history – Ireland’s 1-0 victory over Italy at the 1994 USA World Cup.

We understand that some of our younger readers may have only seen Ray Houghton’s 11th-minute strike on Reeling in the Years, but for everyone else, here’s a quick reminder of what else was going on in the world on that historic day: 18 June 1994.

In the news

New plan for ‘all Ireland’ authority: An all-Ireland authority will be a key proposal on the table at talks on the future of the North.

Rwanda peace talks hit by killing: Peace talks in Rwanda were broken off yesterday after rebels killed a UN peacekeeper and Hutu militiamen stormed a hotel housing refugees.

Sutherland could be EU President: GATT director-general Peter Sutherland is still in the running for the Presidency of the EU Commission if his candidacy gets a push from the Government.

Mother blocks Puttnam movie over son’s nude scene: A woman has moved to block distribution of the film The War of the Buttons because it contains scenes in which her 14-year-old son appears naked.

In sport

‘Devil’ exorcised as Klinsmann strikes: The group stages of USA ’94 kicked off yesterday as Germany beat Bolivia by one goal to nil in the tournament’s opening fixture.

Kildare date with destiny: Lillies get the nod to break Dub hoodoo as the sides prepare to meet in the Leinster SFC.

Carling weds today: England rugby captain Will Carling will break thousands of hearts today when he finally marries his sweetheart Julia Smith in a fairytale ceremony.

Great Scot! Clarke out as Monty turns on the magic: Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie produced probably the greatest round of his career yesterday to take the halfway lead in the US Open at Oakmont.

All headlines taken from the Irish Independent (Saturday 18 June 1994).

In the charts

In Britain, Wet Wet Wet’s Love is All Around tops the charts …

… while All-4-One’s I Swear is at number one stateside.

In New Jersey