O’Neill added that the Germans “wouldn’t have been my first choice” from the top seeds as the sides will meet again in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. On that occasion, Giovanni Trapattoni’s side found themselves up against Spain, Italy and Croatia and there is potential for a broadly similar outcome this time round.
Advertisement
“I have just seen Michael O’Neill carried out on a stretcher”, O’Neill said of his Northern Ireland counterpart.
Pot One: (top seeds): Spain (holders), Germany, England, Portugal, Belgium.
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill. The big name missing, of course, will be the Netherlands, semi-finalists at the last World Cup who contrived to finish fourth in their qualifying group.
But the crowd applauded when footage was shown of Platini scoring in the 1984 tournament that France won on home soil. “The players came through and they have been fantastic”.
France will like its chances of getting out of Group A. After the opening match against Romania, the host nation will play Albania – in the tournament for the first time – and finally Switzerland on June 19.
For the final, which will be played at the Stade de France on July 10, the winners will receive eight million euros while the runners-up will pocked five million. And O’Neill conceded that while being part of the opening night against the hosts would be something special, there are other draw possibilities he would be pleased to avoid.
Advertisement
However, he was relieved to avoid Italy of all possible opponents in pot two, with the Azzurri being drawn alongside Martin O’Neill’s Republic instead. One side from each pot will be allotted to all six groups of four.
