Euro 2016 Group C: Northern Ireland 0-1 Germany
THE big screen was showing them the way to go home, or at least to their hotels, but the Northern Ireland fans had already announced their plans not to do that. The ‘We’re not going home’ song ran out again long after the final whistle.
The players shared the same attitude, especially goalkeeper Michael McGovern. Never mind Will Grigg, German genius Mesut Ozil was on fire, but the figure all in bright yellow extinguished almost every threat the Germans conjured up.
McGovern revealed he’d been left red-faced afterwards, but in a good way: “Yeah, the boys gave me a round of applause when I came in and I was a bit embarrassed, but obviously it was really nice. I have got so much respect for all the boys in the dressing room, they are great boys, so it was a nice touch.”
Skipper Steven Davis had high praise for the man between the posts and the men, women, and children in the stands:
“The fans again were unbelievable, kept singing for 90-plus minutes. Maybe they don’t always have a lot to sing about in terms of possession of the ball or chances that we create, but they kept us going today.”
Northern Ireland fans had no intention of going home:
The only goal that separated the sides in the end came shortly before the half hour mark, and even that was deflected past McGovern, Mario Gomez’s shot lifting up off Gareth McAuley’s lunge.
It could – should – have been far worse, of course, but the major reason that Northern Ireland remained in the reckoning as one of the four best third-placed finishers to progress was down to the Enniskillen man.
Out of contract at the end of this month, soon to turn 32, he will surely receive plenty of offers even if Hamilton Academical strangely haven’t done so.
McGovern made a host of saves, half a dozen of them very impressive, from Thomas Muller, Ozil, Mario Gotze (twice), Sami Khedira, and Gomez. Muller also struck a post and the bar in a flamboyant first half from the Germans.
The ’keeper agreed it was probably the best performance of his career: “If you take into account the stage we are on and the opposition then there's no doubt about that.
“I really enjoyed it, I enjoyed the challenge and I enjoyed the other two games as well and the tournament has been even more than what I could have imagined.”
The moment when you find out you have reached the last 16 of @UEFAEURO!! #GAWA pic.twitter.com/PGXZ3gzjur
— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) June 21, 2016
Davis hopes his performance pays off in more ways than one for McGovern, saying: “I don’t want to disrespect the club he’s at, but he definitely should be playing at a higher level.”
“Anybody watching that tonight couldn’t help but be impressed by his performance, likewise the first two games… He was brilliant tonight.
“We knew Michael was going to need a good game and he surpassed that, he was outstanding.”
Outnumbered by the Germans in the stands, the fans in green still out-sang them, but there was no denying that Northern Ireland had been outplayed.
Not outfought, though.
Although Joachim Low’s side responded to their limp performance against Poland with some superb attacking thrust, their opponents did their darnedest to stick with them, plug the gaps, close them down.
There may have been a gulf in class, but huge effort narrowed that gap considerably.
“As far as the rest of the guys go, we kept fighting to the end”, said Davis.
“Although we didn’t pick anything up, hopefully that’s enough to see us through."
For his part, manager Michael O’Neill reverted to type, or at least his practice in the qualifying campaign, by sticking with the same side that started against Ukraine.
Germany changed players and approach, bringing in young Bayern Munich defender Joshua Kimmich at right-back and Mario Gomez to spearhead the attack as an old school centre-forward, with Mario Gotze dropping back and Julian Draxler dropping out.
As anticipated, this quickly became ‘defence versus attack’, with the latter dominant.
Muller got in one-on-one as early as the seventh minute, Ozil four minutes later, Gotze the very next minute.
The movement of the German attack, especially the line of three behind Gomez, was bewildering, augmented by Sami Khedira pushing up high along with both full-backs.
Midway through the half Kimmich picked out Gomez, who cleverly chested into the path of Muller, but his right-foot shot was dragged inches wide of the far post.
When Northern Ireland managed a rare break-out, Jamie Ward nicking the ball off Gotze and racing on to shoot straight at Neuer, the instant German response almost brought the opening goal.
Kimmich again delivered from the right and Muller sent a flying header against the near post and away.
Yet the dam could not hold. Ozil ran at the defence, Gomez supplied Muller, who held off Craig Cathcart before smartly laying the ball back for the big man – and his shot deflected off the grounded McAuley over McGovern into the net.
Muller again hit the woodwork – this time the bar – from a Gotze cutback, and Khedira saw a shot strike Conor Washington in the face.
Gomez should have doubled his tally after yet more excellent play by Ozil, but he scuffed his shot weakly at McGovern.
Even though Northern Ireland were largely confined to their own half, they still had to cover more yards as Germany tried to shift the defence around.
After the teams turned around, World Cup final goalscorer Gotze began to find gaps, but his shot could not find a way past McGovern’s right hand, a superb reaction save.
The Fermanagh man then pushed up a low drive from Khedira, with Gomez heading the ball wide.
Even when the big striker did hit the target again, after another left-footed cross from Kimmich, McGovern’s left glove turned his header away.
Before the night’s other matches finished, Davis concluded with a sense of optimism: “We know goal difference can play a major part, so, considering we lost, it was the best possible result we could have got that in that sense. Hopefully it’s enough because the fans have been a credit to the tournament, they’ve been outstanding.
“For the players it’s been an immensely enjoyable experience and we don’t want it to end”.
Northern Ireland: McGovern; Hughes, Cathcart, McAuley, J Evans; Ward (Magennis, 70), Norwood, Davis, C Evans (McGinn, 84), Dallas; Washington (Lafferty, 59).
Germany: Neuer; Kimmich, Boateng (Howedes, 75), Hummels, Hector; Khedira, Kroos; Muller, Ozil, Gotze (Schurrle, 55); Gomez.
Referee: Clement Turpin (France).
Attendance: 44,125.
