Northern Ireland’s intention to frustrate their opponents was clear, depriving Wales of space with a careful pressing game held together by rigid positional discipline.
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From early in the evening fans flocked to the official fanzone at the Titanic to welcome home their team from a major tournament for the first time in 30 years. “I am enjoying my football and that makes a big difference”.
Northern Irish fans goaded their Welsh counterparts with chants of “You’re just a small part of England”. Things had to improve in the second half, and in fairness to both these sides the entertainment level was markedly improved after the interval, even if there was still an absence of real quality.
Will Grigg might have become the unlikely phenomenon of Euro 2016 but the Northern Ireland forward conceded it was “massively disappointing” to be denied playing time during his country’s run in France.
Gareth Bale had a relatively quiet game compared to the rest of his tournament so far, but once again he proved that he is crucial to the success of the Welsh side.
“We we were right to keep him on the pitch because he still made some important interceptions and his presence for us is huge”. Who will Wales play?
Wales striker Sam Vokes offered sympathy to Gareth McAuley after the veteran Northern Ireland defender’s own goal settled a tense Euro 2016 last-16 tie in Paris.
The last 16 tie between the British rivals produced little goalmouth action with Wales only managing to get one shot on target during the whole 90 minutes- a Bale free kick from 25 yards.
Northern Ireland needed to score when they were on top.
After all, there’s a European Championship journey to continue.
“We played so well against Russian Federation, which was a complete performance, but there was so much riding on this game”.
This is still a young Northern Irish team and this won’t be the last time that they make an impact on the global stage.
“It’s a very, very cruel way to lose a game and I don’t think we deserved to lose it with a goal of that nature”. Frustrated by some late Wales time-wasting, O’Neill said: “I felt it was a very tight game and I felt we had the better of that, to be honest”.
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Northern Ireland, making their first appearance at a major tournament since the 1982 World Cup, advanced as one of the best third-placed teams, taking full advantage of the expanded 24-team format which helped the less-fancied sides win a moment in the sun.
