Sport

Northern Ireland face crucial Ukraine task as Germany loom

Euro 2016 Group C: Ukraine v Northern Ireland


(Thursday, 5pm, live on UTV & TV3)

IT’S been a tough few days for Northern Ireland, with opening defeat put into perspective by fan Darren Rodgers’ death, but at least one question brought a smile to manager Michael O’Neill’s lips.

The funniest thing is it was a British journalist who asked which of their two remaining matches is the most winnable: “Which one do you think is more winnable, given the Germans are the world champions? It’s a tough question,” quipped O’Neill.

Thursday night’s tie against Ukraine may not quite be win or bust, but the likelihood is anything other than victory would leave them needing to beat Germany to reach the last-16. O’Neill pointed out he’s always been prepared for this scenario since the draw.

“We’ll have to be at our very best, better in a lot of aspects in game one… It’s on a game-by-game basis - our approach wouldn’t change had we won or drawn the Poland game; the emphasis is slightly more on winning the game, but if we have to beat Germany we prepare in such a way that we have to do so," he said. 

Clearly, Northern Ireland must focus only on Ukraine for now and they know that an altered defensive outlook may be required, as O’Neill accepts: “It is a different challenge that we will face… We were arguably playing against the best striker in the world [Robert Lewandowski] and another player in [Arek] Milik who was very highly rated.

“The threat from Ukraine is prominently coming in from wide areas. They have players who are on the radar of the biggest teams in Europe and we have to recognise that.”

Those players are Dynamo Kyiv’s Andriy Yarmolenko and Yevhen Konoplyanka of Sevilla, who will pose serious problems in wide defensive positions. Jonny Evans has expressed his willingness to play at left-back, while there’s a feeling that Paddy McNair could do well as a right wing-back.

O’Neill ruled out the traditional British formation, declaring: “We won’t go and control 60 per cent possession and we couldn’t go and play 4-4-2 - it would be ludicrous for us because the quality of our defensive shape is what keeps us in the game for as long as it did and that’s what kept us in the game against Poland.

“Now in terms of personnel we choose we could be more adventurous. Is it a more defensive player or more attacking player in certain areas of the pitch?”

That might mean McNair giving Conor McLaughlin better protection on the right, or Jamie Ward coming in as a more attacking option. Stuart Dallas could get the nod on the left instead of Shane Ferguson, with the experience and versatility of the elder Evans allowing the Leeds winger to get forward when his team are in possession.

Yet, he did point out: “There’s not many teams in the tournament will play with two out-and-out strikers. We have to think abut that.”

Another difference will definitely be in attitude: “What we didn’t do was the ugly part of the game and that’s something we generally always do well. When I say ugly I mean in terms of the competitiveness.”

Having just said that, O’Neill’s good humour lessened somewhat when it was relayed to him that veteran Ukraine midfielder Ruslan Rotan had claimed “Northern Ireland plays purely a British style”. O’Neill shot back: “Ukraine’s possession was not particularly high against Germany, they also played a lot of long balls, which is very British.

“One thing we’ve noticed about the Ukrainian team is they are a physical team, the player is a competitive player, an excellent player. If you look at the yellow and red cards Ukraine gained through qualification I don’t think they are playing a Spanish style of football.

“We expect a tough game physically but also a highly technical game. What we have been impressed with is their level of competitiveness and physicality.”

Still, O’Neill’s mood was very good and he’s obviously keen to extend the stay in France: “The key when you come into tournament is excitement building into the first game, and having lost the first game, there’s a natural fear of ‘When do you go home?’

“Other teams will feel the same and we have to make sure that’s motivation. We actually love our base and want to stay there as long as possible.”

While Jonny Evans spoke of the need for more sprinting to close opponents down, O’Neill has been enjoying a slightly slower pace, he confirmed: “I have been going for a jog - security has been tight so it has had a presidential style of feel to it that I’ve kind of enjoyed…

“The base we have is fantastic for the players, I’m staying at other end of hotel. They get peace and I do as well,” he said with a laugh.

Another bonus is that it’s much closer to Thursday night’s venue than Nice was: “It’s 45 minutes to get here, we haven’t had to change hotel. In terms of preparation, we couldn’t have had it any smoother. We will be in our hotel until two-and-a-half hours before kick-off.”

Northern Ireland have travelled far. To stay in France they probably must win tonight. O’Neill concluded: “I’m confident that we can go and win the game. Of course I am. I was confident the other night that we could go and win the game…

“To me, a well-prepared team going into a game should be a more confident team than an unprepared team and we will be well-prepared and make sure the players have that belief when the game begins.” 

MATCH STATS


Northern Ireland (possible, 5-4-1): McGovern; McLaughlin, Cathcart, McAuley, J Evans, Dallas; McNair, Baird, Norwood, Davis; Lafferty.


Ukraine (probable, 4-2-3-1): Pyatov; Fedetskiy, Khacheridi, Rakitskiy, Shevchuk; Sydorchuk, Stepanenko; Yarmolenko, Kovalenko, Konoplyanka; Zozylya.

The team in training: