Younger football fans tend to not be aware of just how good Martin O'Neill was as a player.

The Northern Irishman is more famous for his managerial career these days, the 69-year-old having spells in charge of Leicester City, Celtic, Aston Villa, Sunderland and the Republic of Ireland national team.

O'Neill achieved a fair bit as a manager and even led Celtic to the 2003 UEFA Cup final.

That was a stellar European achievement, but as a player, he won the continent's biggest prize on two separate occasions with Nottingham Forest.

O'Neill was key member of Brian Clough's team that defied all the odds and won the European Cup in both 1979 and 1980.

It was truly a historic feat, however, former ITV Football presenter Adrian Chiles still bizarrely tried to belittle the former Northern Ireland captain during the broadcaster's coverage of the 2014 World Cup.

O'Neill as a Forest player

After a group stage match between France and Switzerland, Chiles attempted to mug off O'Neill in front of Patrick Vieira and Fabio Cannavaro by asking him how he would have stood in a defensive wall.

The presenter also tried to slyly make fun of the fact that O'Neill now wears glasses, so the Forest legend took matters into his own hands.

Take a look at his emphatic response here...

Video: O'Neill putting Cannavaro, Vieira & Chiles in their place

An incredible 'mic drop moment' from O'Neill.

The Northern Irishman savagely took aim at Vieira and Cannavaro after Chiles' question, reminding the two World Cup winners that despite their international triumphs, neither of them had won the European Cup.

“Well that’s very nice of you [Chiles] to say that, here. I actually didn’t wear glasses when I was playing,” O'Neill said.

O'Neill's savage response

“What you’re seeing now is an older gentleman, but I did actually play the game at one stage. Funnily enough Fabio wasn’t terribly sure that I did play the game, I had to remind him of that.

“Despite the fact that there are two World Cup winners [here], actually when it comes to the Champions League, which used to be the European Cup, I’ve won two of them. I’d just like to know, how many have you two have won?”

Both Cannavaro and Vieira didn't offer an answer to the question and the silence in the ITV studio was just brilliant.

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Vieira later tweeted in response to O'Neill's savagery: “Getting flashbacks sitting next to Martin O’Neill, feel like being back in the tunnel with Keane…need to sort him out…like in the tunnel.”

You love to see it.

Stadiums quiz: Can you name these old British football grounds that are no longer in use?