They had next to no possession, but the Euros needed Northern Ireland
O’Neill’s men do their country proud but now the Irish FA must build on this extraordinary success
When they look back on the 2016 Northern Ireland team that Michael O’Neill built out of the spare parts of Championship footballers and half the West Bromwich Albion defence, history will rightly regard this man’s achievement as one of football’s more remarkable Euro adventures.
They did not come to Euro 2016 to challenge the legacy of the great European teams of the past, or even those great teams of their own past from the 1958, 1982 and 1986 World Cups – in fact, most of the time they were not even too bothered if they had the ball. They had it less over their group games than any other team that reached the second round, and at Parc des Princes they had it less than Wales.
Yet no country apart from Iceland has quite epitomised the can-do mentality of Euro 2016 more than Northern Ireland, with their population of 1.8 million and their song about the Wigan Athletic striker who rarely plays for them. They took Steven Davis, their best player and an intelligent midfielder who adapted himself to the requirements of the job, and they got more out of him than they could ever have hoped.
Northern Ireland took Wales to 76 minutes in the second round until, finally, Aaron Ramsey slipped a ball down the left channel to Gareth Bale and Gareth McAuley could not block the cross intended for Hal RobsonKanu without putting it in his own goal. After all that effort and hope and raging against the odds, the reality was this was exactly the kind of goal you might expect a defence like Northern Ireland’s to concede.
Their supporters are going home with their flags emblazoned with the face of George Best and a reminder that Northern Ireland can lay claim to arguably the greatest player ever to come out of the British Isles. At Euro 2016 they did not have anyone fit to lace the great man’s boots, drinks or otherwise, but they did have a great team spirit.
They qualified in Group F ahead of Romania and Hungary, the latter of whom were winners of their group out here. Their victory over Ukraine was a geo-mismatch: a tiny population triumphing over the nation of 45 million. Against Germany, there was the performance of a lifetime from goalkeeper Michael McGovern, the 31-year-old from Enniskillen who turned down a new contract at Hamilton Academical.
Northern Ireland will be accused, with some justification, of going to the European Championship to play Championship football – but what else do you do when all but four of the starting XI played outside the Premier League last season? For a long time they frustrated Wales and forced Chris Coleman into his Plan B, with RobsonKanu in attack and Jonny Williams back to midfield.
In the course of the second half, O’Neill brought on Conor Washington, Niall McGinn and Josh Magennis to try to turn the game. Under the terms of Euro 2016’s underdog narrative, that final substitute should have been Will Grigg, the man whose name has been sung at Euro 2016 arguably more than any other but who goes home not having played a single minute of the tournament. Not on fire but probably – like every unused sub – just gently smouldering.
Northern Ireland created some chances in the first half, including a Jamie Ward attempt that went over the bar and some efforts to pick out Kyle Lafferty around the back post, where he can be dangerous. Over the course of 90 minutes they had three attempts on target to one from Wales, but as the second half progressed it never felt that it was anything less than a job of containment.
Where do Northern Ireland go from here? They had five players over 30 in the starting line-up, including two 36-year-olds, while Lafferty and Jonny Evans are both 28. There are younger faces, too, including Corry Evans, Oliver Norwood and Stuart Dallas, all 25, as well as the 21-year-old Paddy McNair, who was on the bench.
The Northern Ireland Under-21s team does not have any obvious names in it, with players from Stevenage, Accrington Stanley and Alloa Athletic, as well as Liverpool, Leeds United and Charlton Athletic. But that is not really the point for O’Neill, who does not have a single current Champions League player in his squad anyway. In his position he can afford to overlook club status and pick the team he sees
‘What Michael O’Neill has achieved here is the restoration of an old football nation’s self-esteem’
fit. He is armed with a four-year contract to take him up to Euro 2020, although he could emerge as a target for league clubs in England.
Northern Ireland won Group F in qualification and they did not need Michel Platini’s expansionist policy towards the Euros to ease their path to France. Qualification for the 2018 World Cup will be much more difficult, with the Northern Irish obliged to see off either Germany or the Czech Republic, the two teams seeded above them in Group C. A more realistic target will be the next Euros in four years’ time, although you sense that they have the taste for it now.
What O’Neill has achieved is the restoration of an old football nation’s self-esteem. During its time in the weeds, Northern Ireland lost players to the Republic of Ireland. They became something of a running joke during that period when they went 1,298 minutes and two years without scoring a goal and fell to 122nd in the Fifa rankings in 2004. Euro 2016 will change perceptions and it goes without saying that the Irish FA will have to build on those forward steps.
For now, they are going home, but it would be enough to say that no promising young Northern Irish footballer who lived through qualifying for Euro 2016 and the tournament itself will wake up this morning imagining himself playing for anyone other than his country.