Northern Ireland
A very unsual team in recent years, in the big competition, this is in fact their 1st Euro in their history, after 3 World Cups. They won’t have huge ambitions, but rather they have nothing to lose and they will fight with all their energy to achieve immortality.
How they qualified
When the clock hit 75 minutes of the game in
Hungary, the Nothern Irish conceded the first goal of the game and
qualification was going to start, again, horribly. And then, they were able to
turn it around and get a win that catapulted them to win their qualification
group.
Despite that, they were unable to beat
Romania, and now their opponents will be much harder. But history is already
something this players written their names in.
Squad
Goalkeepers:
Alan Mannus (St Johnstone), Michael McGovern (Hamilton Academical), Roy Carroll
(Linfield).
Defenders:
Craig Cathcart (Watford), Jonathan Evans (West Bromwich Albion), Gareth McAuley
(West Bromwich Albion), Luke McCullough (Doncaster Rovers), Conor McLaughlin
(Fleetwood Town), Lee Hodson (MK Dons), Aaron Hughes (free agent), Patrick
McNair (Manchester United), Chris Baird (Derby County).
Midfielders:
Steven Davis (Southampton), Oliver Norwood, (Reading), Corry Evans, (Blackburn
Rovers), Shane Ferguson (Millwall), Stuart Dallas (Leeds United), Niall McGinn
(Aberdeen), Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest).
Forwards:
Kyle Lafferty (Norwich City), Conor Washington (Queens Park Rangers), Josh
Magennis (Kilmarnock), Will Grigg (Wigan Athletic).
Kyle Lafferty
Club : Norwich (ENG)
Age : 28 years
If anyone is going to score goals for Northern
Ireland in France is going to be Kyle Lafferty. 2nd best goal scorer
in the history, he was the name behind 7 of the 16 his team scored in
qualification and his height makes him very dangerous in the air.
Lafferty has to be at his best and not show
those signs of uncontrollable bad boy he shows from time to time, but it’s in
the national team that he feels better
Paddy McNair
Club : Manchester United (ENG)
Age : 21 years
Young
player that came through the ranks of Man.United – where arrived with 15 years
old – was compared to Michael Carrick by his youth coach.
A very versatile player, can play as a holding
midfielder, center back and both right and left back, and was this that catched
Van Gaal’s eye, who started Mc Nair in Man.United’s senior squad when he was
19.
Already with 24 games made with a Red Devil shirt, is a strong candidate
to start for his country in this historic moment.
Michael O’Neill
Was a
player of the national team and has been a very successful manager. Before
arriving at the FA ranks, he was at Shamrock Rovers, where won two titles and
qualified to the Europa League group stage, the first time a Northern Irish
team reached this stage.
What to expect from them?
Inserted in a very tough group, O’Neill and his team know that a win will be a big help for a possible qualification to the knockout stage. To achieve that, he will use the usual British kick and rush, that has in Kyle Lafferty the perfect interpreter. Organized in a 4-4-2 with midfielders in a more holding position and Davis as the playmaker, Northern Ireland will be a team that will try to beat all the odds. They weren’t even expected to be here so anything else will be just gravy.
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