BLACKBURN Rovers midfielder Corry Evans and Burnley’s Danny Lafferty completed 90 minutes as Northern Ireland drew 1-1 with Qatar in a friendly at Crewe’s Gresty Road.

Opposition to Sepp Blatter’s FIFA presidency reared its head during the game as Northern Ireland fans used the match with the 2022 World Cup hosts to make a stand.

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The scene in Crewe might have lacked the drama of dawn raids in Zurich but the Green and White Army’s repeated chants against Blatter and the Gulf state’s status as tournament hosts suggested the football family has not yet moved on from the controversy.

The game itself was little to excite emotion, a low-key 1-1 draw featuring a maiden international goal for Stuart Dallas and a fine equaliser from Qatari substitute Karim Boudiaf.

As a result Northern Ireland’s embarrassing run in friendlies continued - they last won a non-competitive match against Georgia in 2008 and Michael O’Neill is now without success in 10 attempts.

That will hardly be a major concern for him, with a handful of key men rested from the fixture and qualification for Euro 2016 still looking good.

Instead, the game is likely to be remembered for the songs in opposition to Blatter.

Burnley-born Oliver Norwood’s set-pieces appeared the best chance of a breakthrough early on, with the Reading man’s free-kick drawing a save from Amine Lecomte.

Dallas netted 52 seconds into the second half, but Qatar levelled with 20 minutes left.