Michael O’Neill: N. Ireland run an ‘amazing achievement’

Last Sunday’s 0-0 second-leg draw in Basel was not enough for Michael O’Neill’s men as Switzerland progressed to next year’s finals in Russia thanks to a controversial penalty in the first leg.

Northern Ireland had finished second in their qualifying group behind Germany.

“There’s a devastated group of players in there and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” said O’Neill (photo).

“I could name them all - they were fabulous. We don’t always have toplevel players but we have top-level characters.

“What these players have done to be at this stage - to take a team like Switzerland right to the last minute of the play-offs over two legs - is an amazing achievement.”

It was a typically determined display in Basel from Northern Ireland, who rode their luck at times but gave it their all in pursuit of a first World Cup appearance since 1986.

Haris Seferovic missed numerous chances to end the tie in favour of an increasingly nervous home side and Jonny Evans came agonisingly close to taking the game to extra time when his injury-time header was cleared off the line by Ricardo Rodriguez.

It left Northern Ireland to reflect on what might have been and a first leg in Belfast that was decided by a controversial penalty, awarded when Corry Evans was judged to have blocked Xherdan Shaqiri’s shot with his hand in the box when it clearly hit his back.

They were also aggrieved by a late sliding tackle, early in the game, on Stuart Dallas by Fabian Schar, for which the defender was booked but could easily have been sent off.

Sunday’s match was the first time Switzerland failed to win a competitive home game since September 2014

“We’ve gone out to a really poor decision in the first leg,” said O’Neill on Sky Sports. “We were fighting for our life, fighting for a dream. We played with raw courage, covered huge distances.

He added: “It is too strong a word to say we have been cheated - but there is an injustice to going out of the tournament in this nature.

“The referee was very poor in the first leg - got the red card wrong and the penalty wrong. It’s a very sore way to lose. We deserved extra time.

“It hasn’t happened for us and we have to move on.”

O’Neill’s achievements during his six years as Northern Ireland boss, which includes leading them to their first European Championship in 2016, has led to him being linked with a number of club jobs in England and the vacant Scotland managerial post.

However, he refused to comment on his future after Sunday’s game.

“I’m contracted until 2020 and tonight is about me being there for my players. That’s it, I’m not looking any further than that,” he said.