Soccer

Michael O'Neill seeking a final Windsor spark against Netherlands

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill 
Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill  Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill 

Euro 2020 qualification Group C: Northern Ireland v Netherlands (tonight, Windsor Park, 7.45pm, live on Sky Sports Main Event)

CRISTIANO Ronaldo and co were almost left shell-shocked in Porto seven years ago, they had Germany on the rack at times a few months back and the Netherlands struck late to wriggle free in Rotterdam five weeks ago.

But still, despite the huge strides made during Michael O’Neill’s eight years, Northern Ireland have yet to land that knockout blow on one of the real big boys.

With tonight’s Euro qualifier against the Netherlands set to be O’Neill’s last on the line at Windsor Park as he settles into life at Stoke City, it would be as good a time as any to buck that trend.

Not that O’Neill needs a win over a major superpower to define his reign.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating there, from qualifying for a first-ever European Championships to the cusp of a World Cup, his stock has soared through the roof since those difficult early days.

And here they are again, heading into the final couple of games of a qualification campaign in the mix.

Had they managed to hold on when Josh Magennis put them one up 15 minutes from time in the De Kuip Stadium, Group C would have been on a knife-edge heading into tonight’s game.

They didn’t though, and are therefore in need of a minor miracle to book their spot at Euro 2020 automatically, almost certainly requiring wins over the Netherlands and Germany in Frankfurt on Tuesday.

In that respect, there will be no pressure on Northern Ireland’s shoulders when they run out at Windsor Park.

Nothing is expected other than a blood and guts performance; O’Neill will be comfortable with that scenario.

And the emotion surrounding his impending departure, he wants that to feed into his players’ performance in a positive way.

“No, it doesn’t feel like that at all,” he said when asked if the week had felt like a build-up to saying goodbye.

“The week for me has been no different from any other week, it genuinely hasn’t.

“We got the work done, the players have been very focused, more focused than they’ve been in the past - maybe hoping me as a club manager may sign them!

“They’ve been extra attentive.”

Defenders Michael Smith and Craig Cathcart came through recent fitness tests, with the inclusion of Magennis instead of Kyle Lafferty the only possible change from the starting line-up it seems.

And for all Ronald Koeman’s criticism of their defensive set-up in Rotterdam, O’Neill is unlikely to veer too much from that script against such top level opponents.

The Dutch need only avoid defeat to seal their qualification, and Northern Ireland have an opportunity to capitalise on that slight sense of not knowing whether to stick or twist.

Against the Germans at Windsor Park in October, Northern Ireland pressed aggressively and effectively, denying Joachim Low’s side any time to settle on the ball.

And it is that level of performance which O’Neill feels is required if Northern Ireland are to have any chance of pulling off that elusive major scalp.

“We have to get to that level,” he admitted.

“In the first half here I thought we were phenomenal and I think we should have been ahead, perhaps two ahead. You can’t play well against Germany for 90 minutes, there is going to be a period when they come to the fore.

“The biggest thing was that, when we went 1-0 behind, we stayed in the game. We aim to make it as uncomfortable for the Dutch as possible.

“They have fantastic players, we know their reputations.

“We need to make the game with the intensity we showed against the Germans. Even the top players in this kind of atmosphere can be tested.”

As was the case in Rotterdam, the Dutch are expected to stick with a 4-3-3 system, centred around the playmaking ability of Frenkie de Jong.

With Northern Ireland dropping deeper after going ahead, the Barcelona maestro was allowed more space to get on the ball and dictate.

When he is granted that freedom, De Jong is a joy to watch, and his clever distribution was key to the Oranje comeback that night. However, Koeman is without PSV Eindhoven duo Donyell Malen and Steven Bergwijn, while he will delay making a final call on the fitness of Memphis Depay (hamstring) and Georginio Wijnaldum (flu) until this morning.

That could lead to starting with a new-look front three, with Quincy Promes and Luuk de Jong potentially starting alongside veteran Ryan Babel.

"Gini participated in half of the training yesterday and Memphis did more," said Koeman. "They are doing better, but I do not know yet if they can play.”

Even without such quality players, the Netherlands are still backboned by the likes of Liverpool’s totemic Virgin van Dijk and Matthijs de Ligt of Juventus, with Frenkie de Jong pulling the strings.

When they do book their place at Euro 2020, whether that is tonight or on Tuesday at home to Estonia, the Netherlands will go into the tournament as one of the favourites – and justifiably so.

If they show why at Windsor Park, Northern Ireland and Michael O’Neill could be left facing a sweat for a play-off place when March comes around.