The Northern Ireland coach: “Excellent in the first half, great performance against a big team. Many young players give me hope for the future”
Northern Ireland tried in their own way: with low blocking, narrow lines and long balls. Too little to beat Italy, but enough to make coach Michael O’Neill satisfied who didn’t cause any drama after the knockout: “I couldn’t ask for more from my men – he explained – and our game plan in the first half was excellent: they created little, we defended well on corner kicks and we also had a good opportunity to score. There was also a possible handball in Italy’s area which I would like to review again. In the second half we hurt ourselves with that shot head on which Tonali scored a great goal. However, we offered an important performance despite having a very young team on the pitch, which has a good future ahead of us. Despite the defeat, I have nothing to complain about. Unfortunately, the injuries have taken away important elements from our team grown in this period and we showed a serenity that I had already seen in Germany. We are on the right path and we must always have a similar attitude. We will take advantage of this experience in view of the 2028 European Championships. The project continues because the majority of the squad will remain together for the future.”
