Then on Monday, it is to the French Riviera for England and Iceland – where Roy Hodgson’s men will hope to find the “je ne sais quoi” that eluded them in their 0-0 draw against Slovakia as they take on Iceland in Nice.
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N. Ireland lost 1-0 to Wales on Saturday with Gareth McAuley’s own goal and were knocked out of the tournament at the round of 16.
Wales will now face Belgium or Hungary in the quarter final stage of the competition.
“It hurts, it’s a very, very cruel way to lose the game”.
After the break, Northern Ireland raced out of the blocks and Kyle Lafferty showed quick feet by evading two red shirts on his way into the box, but Gunter stopped him in his tracks.
Northern Ireland were doing something throughout this match that the Russians had spectacularly failed to manage in Wales’ last group match.
Coleman’s men had struggled for goals during qualifying – scoring 11 in 10 matches – and this match demonstrated their occasional shortcomings against well-organised defences.
The 3-year-old girl hasn’t been seeing much of Gareth Bale lately, and the Welsh nation will be hoping they’ll have to wait a bit longer before being able to spend any quality time together.
This has given the Welsh a solid, dependable platform and they needed it at Parc des Princes, where Northern Ireland were a threat from set pieces.
“The [Wales] dugout told Ashley Williams to lay down on the pitch”, said O’Neill.
Northern Ireland pushed forward in a bid to force the contest into extra time, but it was mot to be and their campaign came to an end in Paris.
The centre-back battled on to complete the game but his left arm was put in a sling after the final whistle. “They like to play a counter-attacking style of football and we wanted to stop that”. We hung on and we came through.
“Geographically, we’re small, but if you judge it on passion, we’re a continent”, Coleman said in a statement that his Northern Ireland counterpart could also make his own. “And we knew they would make mistakes towards the end of the game and that was the case”. 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. But we’ll worry about that tomorrow and enjoy”.
For Northern Ireland coach Michael O’Neill it was a bitter pill to swallow.
“I couldn’t ask anything more of the players throughout the tournament”.
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Wales booked their place in the next round courtesy of Gareth McAuley’s own goal on 75 minutes, which arrived following Gareth Bale’s fizzed cross, continuing his side’s European adventure in what is their first major tournament since 1958.
