Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Something new under the sun
MAGENNIS: THIS TRIP IS A FRESH START FOR US
JOSH MAGENNIS believes the first bullet points of Northern Ireland’s master plan for the UEFA Nations League and Euro 2020 qualifiers will be etched in Central America this week.
Michael O’neill’s men face Panama in the early hours of Wednesday, before completing their short summer tour against Costa Rica on Sunday.
After helping the Green and White Army reach the knockout stages of Euro 2016 and the World Cup play-offs in November, Magennis is focusing on the tests ahead.
Northern Ireland kick off the Nations League at home to Bosnia and Herzogovina on September 8, while the Euro 2020 campaign looms large in March.
“We’re not just here for the sun,” said the Charlton Athletic striker. “We’re here to put foundations in place. It starts now.
“Going to the Euros felt like reaching the end of the rainbow and it was life changing. We managed to kick on and got so close to the World Cup.
“We always said we didn’t want to be a one trick pony and we’re looking to go again.”
Lively QPR forward Paul Smyth, who is part of O’neill’s touring panel, bagged a memorable winner on his debut in March’s 2-1 friendly victory over South Korea.
It was the country’s first win in five outings and a welcome tonic to November’s heartbreaking 1-0 aggregate defeat to Switzerland in the World Cup playoffs.
Magennis said: “We’ve come a long way in recent years and we’re now a team that’s expected to win, no matter who we play. “We want to kick on from what we did against South Korea because that was a brilliant performance at Windsor Park.
“Panama are going to the World Cup and they’ll be on a high. It’s their last game in their home city before Russia, so it’ll be a tough task, but we want to match them and more.”
O’neill is considering playing Magennis alongside Burton Albion’s Liam Boyce in attack against the Panamanians, who are in England’s World Cup group in Russia. That would suggest a 3-5-2 formation and the 27-year-old is eager to stake a claim for one of the target men roles in the absence of Hearts striker Kyle Lafferty and QPR’S Conor Washington.
He said: “You’d be crazy to ever think your place in the team is cemented. Points aren’t at stake this week, so the manager can look at different personnel and formations.”
Magennis is excited to see how U21 stars like Crusaders winger Gavin Whyte (inset), Everton’s Shayne Lavery and Livingston midfielder Jordan Thompson acquit themselves in the senior set-up.
He said: “I’m looking forward to seeing how they cope with the demands of playing for Northern Ireland. It’ll be a good test.” CHARLTON Athletic’s League One play-off pain has made Josh Magennis more determined to shoot the club to promotion.
The Addicks missed out after losing 2-0 on aggregate to Shrewsbury Town in the semi-finals two weeks ago.
“It was heart breaking,” said Magennis. “Obviously, we wanted to try and go up with automatic promotion but managed to get into a two game shootout.
“Come the end of it, Shrewsbury managed to pip us. It was unfortunate because there was a lot at stake, not only for yourself, but for the club and fan base
“It did leave a bitter taste in the mouth, but you have to come back next