DRAWFUL O’neill’s boys land the Dutch and Germans

MICHAEL O’NEILL’S wry smile spoke volumes as Northern Ireland were tossed into a Euro 2020 Group of Death alongside the Netherlands and Germany.

Everything he had hoped to avoid in yesterday’s glamour ceremony actually came to pass in the Round Room of doom in Dublin’s Mansion House.

O’neill had been desperate to sidestep Joachim Low’s Germany from Pot Two but he’s now destined to face both the Dutch and Die Mannschaft in a tough qualifying Group C.

Ditto his hope that Northern Ireland wouldn’t “suffer” as a result of the stipulation that only two of the 12 host nations can play in the same qualifying pool.

That permutation in a complex draw for the first ever multi-nation European championship saved the Republic of Ireland’s skin, with Northern Ireland drawing the short straw.

Add in Estonia and Belarus and O’neill, who marched the Green and

White Army to the Euro 2016 finals in France, was left to reflect on a “very cruel” outcome.

“It’s possibly the worst draw we could have got,” he admitted. “The nature of the draw and how we were moved into that group was a little bit cruel.

“I understand the rationale behind it but I think it’s unfair. We’re now going against two powerhouses in Europe.

“Estonia and Belarus will also provide stiff competition – they won’t be easy games either – but we have to aspire to do as well as we can.”

O’neill accepts Northern Ireland will require two huge home displays against the Dutch and Germans if they are to hold out any hope of reaching the finals.

Die Mannschaft will visit Windsor Park on September 9 of next year while the Netherlands, who are Nations League finalists, are here on November 16.

O’neill said: “I think we’ve proven we can match the top teams in Belfast but it will take two more momentous performances to take points off Holland and Germany.

“They’ll be two of the biggest games in Northern Ireland’s history against two of the top teams in Europe but they’re also great games to look forward to.

“We have to challenge for one of the top two spots in the group and our home form is going to be vital in terms of enabling us to compete with the top two.”

One positive for O’neill is the fact that Northern Ireland, who have a small squad, are in one of the five team groups so they’ll play only eight and not 10 qualifiers.

The schedule is also favourable with the first four games against Estonia and Belarus in two double-headers in March and June 2019. O’neill believes the opening fixtures are vital in creating momentum and he will hope to have points on the board before facing the top two seeds in a tough run-in.

“It’ll be a challenge but if you don’t believe you can do it then there’s no point really,” he said. “We can go into these games with the sense we are the underdog and hopefully that will help us, it means we have nothing to lose.”