It was Michael O’Neill’s belief that a visit to Germany represents “probably the most difficult fixture in international football.” The Northern Ireland manager seldom issues grand statements and the outcome of this Group C qualifier went accordingly, with the world champions claiming their third successive win, looking pretty formidable in the process.
Joachim Löw’s men comfortably prevailed in the Hanover Arena thanks to efforts from Julian Draxler and Sami Khedira, to supplement a brace of three‑goal victories against both Norway and the Czech Republic. The contest was, essentially, all over inside 17 minutes, with Germany at their brisk best, but it wasn’t cruel on Northern Ireland. Löw can, meanwhile, now proudly boast of a 94th win in charge of the national side, equalling the record of Sepp Herberger.
Who will follow Die Mannschaft as runners-up in this campaign? Moreover, once recovered from spells of chasing irresistible shadows, the Northern Irish can still consider themselves in the mix, alongside Azerbaijan, a surprise package.
Pragmatism occupies much of O’Neill’s thinking, and there were echoes of a heavy defensive line from the sides’ most recent meeting, in France during Euro 2016. It was, though, insufficient to quell the world champions, who were all arts and crafts.
Northern Ireland had four points from their opening two games against the Czechs and San Marino. There was little opportunity for them to repeat those golden feats of nearly thirty three years ago, the last time they won in Germany, in the halcyon days of Norman Whiteside’s precocious bravado.
O’Neill was rather philosophical, but a more taxing concern rests with a home tie next month against Azerbaijan. The Northern Irish players fortunately retain their belief and sense of responsibility.
“I’m not sure there is a system in world football that can contain Germany at this time,” O’Neill said. “We looked to play 5-4-1 and hoped to keep [Toni] Kroos quiet, if you do that someone else pops up and causes you a problem, like with Boateng. It’s very difficult to play against this Germany team because they have top players in every position. There’s a huge gulf.
“We came here with a plan to try to nullify a fantastic team with fantastic players. That plan is always great if [you] can keep the score at 0-0. The first goal is a great one from Julian Draxler, second goal disappointing, but the response after that was excellent, when we broke and counter-attacked we looked like we could possibly score, but we were playing a fantastic team.”
The combined ingenuity of Mario Götze and Kroos, in particular, ensured it was simply a matter of time before the men in green were opened up. Germany, prising out angles, had them scattered about early on and Draxler, who drove a 14th minute shot home from 20 yards under keeper Michael McGovern, hinted at a chastening occasion. Fortunately for Northern Ireland that didn’t transpire, although for a squad well drilled in shape and organisation, it was particularly disappointing that Khedira was allowed to nod home number two from close range less than four minutes later.
Only the occasional foray by Josh Magennis and Jamie Ward helped alleviate pressure as the Irish struggled to break forward in numbers. Germany eased up on their intensity, even though both Götze and Khedira could have added to the final margin. Northern Ireland, fully exerted, can take consolation from that.
Löw’s assessment was matter-of-fact. “For us this tonight was a fairly effortless victory,” he said. “We took the lead and took our foot off the accelerator. Northern Ireland sat very deep and it felt like a 9-0-1 formation at times. It was a comfortable victory and we just have to keep winning.I have told my players they have to play relentlessly through these qualifiers and take no prisoners to qualify as quickly as possible.”
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion