Sick and sore
Last gasp Austria winner leaves gutted O’Neill wishing Nations League hadn’t been invented
BITTERLY disappointed Michael O’Neill is keen to forget the inaugural Nations League ever happened after being left sickened by Austria’s last second winner at Windsor Park last night.
The Austrians condemned Northern Ireland to four Nations League defeats in succession with Valentino Lazaro’s opportunist goal, following a defensive error, settling the match 2-1 with the referee poised to blow for full time.
Northern Ireland were set to secure a confidence boosting 1-1 draw following Corry Evans’ first goal in eight years for his country which cancelled out Xaver Schlager’s opener just after half time.
O’Neill’s men now have four months to regroup, shed their dismay and prepare for the European Championship qualifiers which start in March following the draw in Dublin on December 2.
“It’s very sickening to lose a game that way, I don’t think we deserved to lose the game. It was a sore one, ” admitted O’Neill (above), following the final international match of 2018.
“In terms of where we are as a team, basically we’ve got to forget the Nations League was ever invented and we’re ready to go and play in March.”
O’Neill, while gutted about the result, was pleased with the overall performance, but admitted Austria’s introduction of West Ham’s Marko Arnautovic and the quality of Bayern Munich’s David Alaba was the difference in the end.
O’Neill described the West Ham hitman as a “top four player in the Premier League.”
“We played well in the game, I felt,” sighed O’Neill, who made four changes from the side that drew with the Republic last Thursday in Dublin.
O’Neill added: “Austria are a good team, very powerful but I felt we competed very well. There’s a difference in stature of the players and at times early in the game that showed but I thought we got to grips and reacted well to going behind.
“It’s a bad time to lose a goal, just after half-time, but the reaction was very positive. I felt up to 80 minutes we looked the more likely to win. We pushed hard.
“There’s no doubt the introduction of Arnautovic gave them a lift but we were attacking right up to the final kick of the game, trying to win the game with Jordan (Jones) trying to link up with Paddy (McNair) and then we’re punished at the other end.
“Stuart (Dallas) is maybe thinking he should have put the ball out of play and then the referee would have blown the final whistle at that time. But again we’re looking at that wee bit of quality, it’s an Alaba-Arnautovic combination and the lad Lazaro, it’s a fantastic finish that separates the teams.
“Arnautovic is a top player, a top, top player,” added O’Neill.
“When you look at him you see he’s a top-four player in the Premier League, he could play in any of the top teams in Europe.”
O’Neill was quick to praise goalscorer Corry Evans, George Saville, Steven Davis and Jordan Jones for their efforts and believes, while the Nations League results were frustrating, overall his team has developed with the introduction of young players, Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Jamal Lewis and Gavin Whyte.
The Northern Ireland chief honestly believes with youth added to the experience of Gareth McAuley, Craig Cathcart, Jonny Evans, Steven Davis, along with Stuart Dallas, his side will once again be challenging for qualifying come the business end of the 2020 European qualifiers.
“When we look back at this competition you have to ask what we wanted from it. We wanted to try and develop the team and I genuinely think we’ve done that,” stated O’Neill.
“The negatives are the results, not the performances. The good thing is, had we lost games like this in the Euros you’d be particularly despondent, the damage would be much greater.
“Ultimately it has deprived us of a potential place off place. It means when the Nations League comes round again we are League C, we can live with that. There’s good teams in League C.
“The damage is very very limited. The upside is the development of the team and it is worth what we have done. We had to try and get younger players in the team, with some very limited club football behind them. Hopefully the experience will make us ready for March and what lies ahead.
“I think the boys believe they’re capable of mounting a real challenge to qualify again and that’s the most important thing,” concluded O’Neill. Nations League results: Group C2: Greece 0 Estonia 1, Hungary 2 Finland 0; Group D2: Moldova 1 Luxembourg 1, San Marino 0 Belarus 2; Group A2: Switzerland 5 Belgium 2; Group A4: England 2 Croatia 1; Group B3: Northern Ireland 1 Austria 2.