A Mario Gomez goal proved enough for the world champions, but Northern Ireland fans were full of optimism of making it through to the last 16.
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After defying Germany again and again in a 1-0 loss, the Northern Ireland goalkeeper was given: The shirt of his admiring opposite number, Manuel Neuer; an ovation of applause by teammates in the locker room; and a place for his team in the round of 16.
Joachim Low had deployed Mario Gotze as a false nine in the 0-0 stalemate against Poland in the Stade de France in their last outing.
Norn Iron were starved of possession and couldn’t even play their usual counting-attacking game as the Germans nullified the little threat they could have on the game.
Germany would thoroughly dominate play and Mesut Ozil creates countless opportunities for the frontline, but Thomas Muller’s early effort is denied by the keeper.
Northern Ireland supporters stand up during the playing of the anthems before the Euro 2016 Group C soccer match between Northern Ireland and Germany at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Tuesday, June 21, 2016. Michael had a fantastic night in goal. 1-0 is a unsafe score.
Similar to McAuley – an nearly impossible task of keeping out the Germans with Mesut Ozil pulling the strings with a number of sublime through-balls.
Mueller also struck the goal frame twice in the first half, and Germany fired 26 attempts on goal in total compared to Northern Ireland’s two.
His Hamilton Academical contract is up this summer and he said: “I would like to play at the highest level I can and make the most of my career”.
In one dark cloud, key defender Jerome Boateng will have a possible calf problem assessed after coming off in the second half.
So perhaps it made sense that someone saw fit to alter Northern Ireland’s Wikipedia page so that every single one of their players was the man himself.
Congratulations have flooded in for O’Neill’s squad and that began with four-time major victor Rory McIlroy’s post-match presence in the dressing room in a George Best t-shirt.
It was a fearless, “backs-against-the-walls” performance by Michael O’Neill’s men against a dominant German side in the suburbs of Paris. A post repelled a diving header, the crossbar sent back a right-foot shot, McGovern blocked one shot, and another was skewed wide of goal.
The slender 1-0 defeat was enough to see them through, though, and O’Neill was pleased that they did not face a nervous wait on Wednesday night to discover their fate. He pushed Steven Davis further forward in the second period and introduced three attackers late on, and the margin of defeat can be seen as a plus following the opening 45 minutes.
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Subs not used: Roy Carroll (gk), Alan Mannus (gk), Conor McLaughlin, Shane Ferguson, Chris Baird, Will Grigg, Paddy McNair, Luke McCullough, Lee Hodson.
