Hughes emotional at bringing up century
Aaron Hughes' 100th international cap came with no pomp and ceremony in Slovakia, though the modest defender revealed there was a tinge of emotion when he addressed his Northern Ireland team-mates post-match.
The 36-year-old joined Pat Jennings in their country's club of centurions by arriving on to the pitch in Trnava as a 30th-minute substitute for the injured Craig Cathcart.
Such was Hughes' keenness to enter the fray to immediately defend a corner in the 0-0 draw, he had already reached his own penalty area by the time the PA announcer at The City Arena informed the crowd of his historic appearance.
Only after the game, when Hughes spoke in front of the colleagues now bound for Euro 2016, did the magnitude of his achievement begin to hit him.
"Once I got the nod to come on when Craig came off, I was just concentrating on the game so I didn't really have time to think about it," he said.
"Since coming off the pitch I've been reflecting on little bits and pieces from the game but I'm sure it will sink in at some point and maybe I'll take a big sigh of relief and catch my breath a little bit.
"It still feels pretty normal but I didn't really know how it was going to feel. For now, I'm quite calm about it all.
"It was a little bit emotional making a speech in the dressing room after the game. I've received a lot of well-wishes this week and I was trying to play it down a bit because I just wanted to get onto the pitch.
"I'm going to the Euros because of these lads, though. I can look back on the 100 caps as a personal thing and it was always going to be a big thing but the Euros is bigger."