Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
JOSH GOAL COULD MAKE SWISS ROLL
Magennis believes away strike may panic opposition as he insists tie is very much alive
JOSH MAGENNIS believes Northern Ireland are just one goal away from reigniting their hopes of reaching a first World Cup in a generation.
Michael O’neill’s men approach tomorrow’s second leg in Basel bidding to overturn a 1-0 deficit following Thursday’s controversial 1-0 defeat in Belfast.
The Green and White Army, chasing back-to-back tournaments for the first time ever, are huge outsiders to march on next summer’s finals in Russia.
But Magennis hasn’t given up hope of upsetting the odds and believes an away goal at St Jakob’s Park could change the dynamic of the tie.
The Charlton Athletic striker said: “We’re 1-0 down but we still have 90 minutes to play. We’re not too despondent because we know we can turn it around.
“Score first and the tie looks very different. The Swiss manager has to decide whether to defend the lead they have or not whereas we know exactly what we have to do.
“We have to score and win the game. One goal levels the tie and the added value of that is, if we do score one or two, the away goals count. We’ve a chance to go through.”
While a horrendous refereeing blunder decided Thursday’s showdown in Belfast, Magennis accepts Northern Ireland did not create enough chances against the Swiss.
It was the first time in 10 games the team had failed to score in a competitive fixture at Windsor Park since drawing 0-0 with Romania in June 2015.
He said: “Throughout the qualifiers we created chances and scored goals, so not to score was the most disappointing thing.
“But we have to forget about the first leg now and not let emotion take over. After the game in Belfast, most of the lads were saying, ‘It’s gone, don’t be thinking about it, it’s done’.
“The preparation for Sunday started on Thursday night. Michael and his staff will analyse the game and we’ll go through the good stuff, the bad stuff and where he thinks we can exploit them.”
At the start of the campaign, Magennis insists Northern Ireland would have taken a one-off game against the Swiss to reach a first World Cup in 32 years.
Win in Basel and the country will secure their place on football’s biggest stage for the first time since the Mexico finals in 1986.
Magennis said: “If someone had said to us, go to Switzerland and win a game to reach the World Cup finals we would have taken it. No doubt about it.
“The Swiss had a bit more possession in Belfast but we didn’t get dominated or cut apart to the extent we did against Germany in the qualifiers.
“It was back and forth. Neither team really created clearcut chances and unfortunately it was a penalty decision that decided the game.”
With Blackburn
Rovers’ Corry Evans
– who was wrongly penalised for Switzerland’s winner from the spot ruled out by suspension – George
Saville has a chance to impress in Basel.
The Millwall midfielder
(right), who made his debut in last month’s 3-1 defeat to
Germany, showed some nice touches in an upbeat half-hour cameo on Thursday night.
Magennis said: “George looks a composed player. It’s his chance to come in for a crucial game. He has more than enough talent and attitude to step up.”