Northern Ireland v Luxembuourg (05/09/2024)

There’s a lot of positivity around our squad ahead of what will be Northern Ireland’s fourth UEFA Nations League campaign.

Naturally, it was nice to bounce back with a win against Andorra in the second game of our early summer tour to Spain. In that friendly we had lots of energy and executed the game plan well, and we could have had more goals than the two we scored without reply. Since that trip to Spain, of course, we have lost another of our key senior players in captain Jonny Evans. And since our last home game in November last year both long-serving captain Steven Davis and Stuart Dallas have left the stage, too. Naturally, I would have wanted all three to play on for Northern Ireland as long as they could, but unfortunately injury cut short both Steven and Stuart’s careers, while Jonny has opted to concentrate on club football as his playing career draws to a close. All three of them always loved playing for their country and we will miss their quality and presence in the games ahead. However, I believe we have shown in the past that we will be able to cope without them. We have to, simple as that. I can sense a desire within the players this week to push on again, starting with tonight’s game. They are looking forward to playing at the National Stadium for the first time this year, with the fans getting behind them. I will be looking for a good performance and a solid start to the latest Nations League campaign. Thanks, as ever, for your fantastic support.

Our last home game, against Denmark, gave the younger players in particular a real sense of belief that they belong on the international stage, and that’s something we have to harness. Yes, the defeat against Spain in June was a blip, however in general the squad is developing well and the mood is good in the camp ahead of our first double header of a new campaign. Luxembourg have also been developing nicely under long-serving manager Luc Holtz in recent years and I believe they will be really tough opponents this evening. They have some very talented players who produced a string of good results in their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign. They finished third in Group J – behind Portugal and Slovakia – on 17 points. And, of course, they also reached the Euro 2024 play-offs, by virtue of a strong showing in their last Nations League campaign, only to be We started the year with challenge matches against Euros-bound Romania and Scotland, and we performed really well in both games. The players showed plenty of endeavour, skill and resilience in securing a draw in Bucharest and a win in Glasgow. Although we were defeated 5-1 by eventual European champions Spain in a friendly in June, I believe the game was a great learning experience for our players. We were under severe pressure for most of the match, but we still managed to create chances. We could have taken a game against a team at a similar level to us, however I wanted the players to play against the best, to show them what’s required to operate at the highest level of international football. defeated by Georgia. But back to our squad.

Enjoy the game. MICHAEL O’NEILL NORTHERN IRELAND MANAGER

IRISHFA.COM

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