Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
GERMAN MOUNT..
Davis: Win tonight would rank high as any
NORTHERN Ireland captain Steven Davis says a win over Germany would take pride of place alongside his other magical Windsor Park nights.
The Southampton midfielder can count famous wins over England and Spain in 2005 and 2006 on his glittering international CV.
Davis was just a fresh-faced 20-year-old when he played the pass for David Healy (inset) to rock the English in front of the old Kop in a memorable World Cup qualifier 12 years ago.
He also starred the following year when a stunning Healy hat-trick shocked a star studded Spanish side in an explosive Euro qualifier in South Belfast.
Add in an historic double strike in a 3-1 win over Greece in 2015 – a result that sealed our place at Euro 2016 – and Davis has enjoyed many iconic Windsor nights.
But a positive result against the Germans – FIFA’S No1 ranked team and current world champions – would be right up there.
Davis said: “They don’t come much bigger than this and if we could come off the pitch with a win, it would be very special.
“It would definitely rank right up there with some of the best results I’ve had in a Northern Ireland jersey.
“It’s going to be a really difficult game, it’ll be physically and mentally draining. If you switch off for one second against the Germans, they can hurt you.
“We’ll need a lot of things to go right for us but we are going to give it a right go and approach the game with the belief we can get something from it.”
Last month’s 2-0 win over the Czechs in Belfast guaranteed Northern Ireland a top two finish.
A play-off for the World Cup is within sight, although only eight of the nine runners-up qualify for next month’s two-legged shootout.
As things stand, it would take an unlikely series of results to deny O’neill and his players a play-off spot, but Davis insists it’s crucial they finish the group strongly.
He also knows a positive result tonight and in the final group game in Norway on Sunday would bolster Northern Ireland’s bid to be one of the four seeded teams for the playoffs.
Davis said: “We’ve put ourselves in an unbelievable position with two games to go, but it’s important we finish it as strongly as possible.
“There is a great carrot there and hopefully on the night our supporters will create an electric atmosphere and make it an uneasy night for them.”
Davis believes Northern Ireland have benefited from playing the Germans twice in recent times, having lost 1-0 at Euro 2016 and 2-0 in Hannover last October.
He said: “We know exactly what they are capable of. I do think we improved from the Euros for the game in Hannover when we managed to get ourselves in some decent positions.
“You can’t be open against them because they can cause a lot of problems that way. We won’t have too many opportunities, so when we do we must make the most of them.”