Evans: Qualifying from group with Germany and Holland would top Euro 2016 achievement
Jonny Evans has claimed that securing a place at Euro 2020 would be Michael O’neill’s greatest achievement with Northern Ireland. Evans is preparing for the first game of a crucial double-header against Holland in Group C, with O’neill’s squad facing a huge challenge to qualify automatically.
Northern Ireland are second in the group, but must play Ronald Koeman’s Dutch team twice before finishing their campaign against leaders Germany next month.
Four years ago, O’neill guided Northern Ireland to their first major finals in three decades, reaching the round of 16 before an agonising defeat by Wales. Evans, the Leicester City defender, insists finishing ahead of Holland would eclipse their achievements at Euro 2016 by some distance.
“When you consider Germany and Holland are in our group, it would be a much bigger achievement,” he said. “We won our first four games and, even if we’d beaten Germany last month [they lost 2-0 at home], we’d still not have been guaranteed qualification. That’s the magnitude of how hard the group is.
“We are now in a position where we’ve got to win in Holland and Germany, and win our game against Holland at home. We needed Germany or Holland to slip up against another team, so qualifying almost feels impossible.
“But in the last three games we’ll do everything we can to keep the group alive. You just never know in international football.”
Evans has been outstanding for Leicester and will be crucial in Rotterdam tonight, as O’neill seeks a huge upset in the group. Holland missed out on Euro 2016 and last year’s World Cup, and Koeman is
under pressure to deliver. A win for the Dutch would lift them above Northern Ireland into second place on goal difference.
Evans said: “There’s been a resurgence in Holland, with the top players across Europe like Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay. For me, Van Dijk is the best defender in Europe and possibly the world right now.
“But we are now fighting it out with them for second place. Our game against Germany wasn’t great and what made it worse was that Holland had beaten them in September. That really opened up the group and changed our mindset. But we know we can achieve things when people don’t expect it and we’ll be going all out to win.”