NI can land a knock out blow and shock Swiss
O’Neill backs his men to fulfil Russia dream
NORTHERN Ireland have mastered the art of punching above their weight, and manager Michael O’Neill insists they can land one more knockout blow to make it to the World Cup finals.
Switzerland are the final hurdle Northern Ireland must overcome to make it to next summer’s tournament in Russia but the players are fired up to deliver in a Windsor Park showdown on Thursday, November 9, and second leg in Basel three days later.
The Swiss, who won nine of their 10 qualifiers, will be formidable opponents, but O’Neill is confident his players can rise to the big occasion again after storming to the knockout stages of Euro 2016.
“For a number of our players this could be their last chance to make a World Cup finals and I’m sure they won’t pass up that opportunity,” said O’Neill (right).
“When we look back at the Greece game in the Euro 2016 qualifiers, the 3-1 win and how we played in it, we went into it with three or four big players missing and coped. The experience of having played that game with so much at stake will stand them in good stead.”
O’Neill continued: “This is slightly different as it’s a two-legged game as opposed to a double-header against different opposition, but the intensity we played with against Ukraine in the Euros will also be something we will look for again.”
O’Neill, who has included Jamie Ward and Paddy McNair in his 27-man squad for the playoff games, insists his troops are not favourites to win the battle, but he knows his players won’t go down without a fight.
“This team has punched above its weight and they enjoy that scenario,” added O’Neill. “We are not the favourites coming into this game — we are playing against a squad which has consistently been in the top 10 in the world for a long time.
“It’s made up of players from Serie A, the Bundesliga and the Premier League, as well as a few domestic players in Switzerland and from a few other leagues.
“They have a lot of top, top players, but we respond to that challenge. We’ve seen that throughout this campaign and we’ll have to see it again. We’ll have to be at our very, very best, there’s no doubt about that.”