against Oxford United in 1982. International career In 1977, he represented England Schoolboys in a match against Scotland. Sanchez won three full international caps for Northern Ireland, qualifying by virtue of his Northern Irish mother. Prior to having played for Northern Ireland he was also qualified to play for Ecuador due to having an Ecuadorian father, but declined the opportunity on the grounds of distance. Managerial and coaching career Sligo Rovers He became player-manager of League of Ireland club Sligo Rovers in 1994, and in his first season led them to the semi-final of the 1995 FAI Cup. He also managed them in the Cup Winners' Cup against Club Brugge. Wimbledon In 1995, he returned to Wimbledon and became the reserve team manager, winning the Football Combination in his first season in charge. After two years in charge of the reserves, he stepped up to be first team coach under Joe Kinnear. Wycombe Wanderers He became manager at Wycombe Wanderers in February 1999, and with only 18 games left he rescued the team from imminent relegation. In 2001, he guided the club (then in the Second Division) to its greatest moment, reaching the FA Cup semi-finals, where they played Liverpool; Wycombe lost 2–1, having held Liverpool to 0–0 for most of the match. After finishing 12th in 2002 and 11th in 2003, the upward progress came to an end with the collapse of the OnDigital TV deal and the subsequent loss of both revenue and players. After a poor start to the 2003–04 season, Sanchez was sacked by the club on 30 September 2003. Northern Ireland national team Sanchez was appointed manager of Northern Ireland in January 2004. At that point the side was ranked 124th in the world, had a 1,298-minute-long goal drought, and had not won a game for nearly three years. Northern Ireland improved markedly under Sanchez. By the time he left, Northern Ireland were top of their Euro 2008 qualification group and reached an all-time high position of 27th in the world. Notable results during his tenure included a 1–0 victory against England in a World Cup qualifying match, a 1–1 draw against Portugal, who went on to reach the 2006 World Cup semi-finals, a 2–1 win over Sweden, and a 3–2 win against eventual Euro 2008 winners Spain in a Euro 2008 qualifying match, with striker David Healy scoring a hat-trick. A book about his