O’NEILL’S OUT TO EXPLOIT GERMAN WOBBLE
Bayern’s turmoil gives Northern Ireland hope
FOR a country who have never lost a World Cup qualifier on foreign soil stretching back 46 games and 83 years, Germany touched down in Belfast yesterday wrestling with a mini-crisis in their national game.
It might not be enough to hand Northern Ireland an historic victory when they face the world champions and Group C leaders at Windsor Park tonight, but if ever there was a chink in the armour of the German machine, then maybe this is it.
‘We’ve presented the Germans as a formidable opponent but not an invincible opponent,’ said manager Michael O’Neill, and that rather summed up the mood.
‘We’ve had a great campaign, so we’re not terrified of Germany. We shouldn’t fear the outcome. We know the areas where we believe we can hurt them, but it will need a massive performance to win it.’
While Joachim Low’s side have advanced imperiously to the brink of World Cup qualification, the performance of German clubs on the European stage has been ‘embarrassing’, as Bayern Munich defender Mats Hummels described it yesterday. Carlo Ancelotti was sacked as Bayern manager on the back of their Champions League defeat by Paris Saint- Germain last week, while Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Cologne, Hoffenheim and Hertha Berlin also lost in Europe.
‘ Six games played, six lost,’ Low acknowledged. ‘ The weak performances of German clubs in Europe is hopefully just a blip, but it is alarming.’
Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy warmed to the theme yesterday, declaring: ‘If Germany play anything like Bayern Munich, then we might have a chance.’
Indeed. Northern Ireland have no reason to run from Germany. If a 1-0 defeat by Low’s team at Euro 2016 was slightly flattering given the one-sided nature of the game, a 2-0 loss in the group match in Hanover last October brought a more positive performance.
Those were the only two goals Northern Ireland have conceded in qualifying — nearly nine hours ago, during a record run of five straight wins. It hardly compares with the World Cup record of fourtime winners Germany — just two home defeats in qualifying and none abroad since 1934 — but this is a Northern Ireland team full of resolve as they eye the play-offs.
O’Neill has not shown his squad too much of the Euro 2016 game, when Germany came out firing on all cylinders, and has been training with mismatched teams this week to prepare them for being dominated again.
‘If I play my strongest team against my weaker team, it’s not going to create how the game will be against Germany,’ he said. ‘We’ve tried 10 v 8 andd 10 v 6,6 and d different scenarios where we put conditions on the opposing team to make them play like Germany.
‘This is the first time we’ve played on Thursday since the change of format, and the turnaround time is difficult for smaller nations.
‘But sometimes in games like this, maybe it’s better not to have too much time for the players to dwell on it.’