Northern Ireland tops Group F with 20 points, three ahead of Romania and four ahead of Hungary.
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Substitute Shane Long’s sumptuous strike secured a 1-0 win over the Group D leaders to go with the draw they claimed in Gelsenkirchen 12 months ago and secured a play-off berth at worst with Sunday’s trip to Poland to come.
“Tomorrow is a very important game for us and we have to have full concentration”.
Frampton, the IBF super bantamweight champion, is friends with Leeds winger Stuart Dallas and was at Windsor Park to watch Michael O’Neill’s side seal a famous 3-1 win in Belfast.
“It’s just an fantastic feeling, what we have to look forward to, but this is about the players, to see their reaction is where I get the real buzz”, he said.
It is the second time in Ireland’s qualification campaign that he has come off the bench to net a vital late goal, having also scored a 90th-minute equaliser in the 1-1 home draw with Poland last March. Milik, Lewandowski and Błaszczykowski will provide the attacking emphasis and the Bayern Munich striker is one of the best strikers in the world, can Ireland handle him on Sunday night?
The Republic of Ireland booked their spot in the European Championship playoffs after a remarkable 1-0 victory over world champions Germany at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin.
“There is no bigger stage for our boys than a game against the world champions”, said former Hertha Berlin defender Levan Kobiashvili, who is now president of the Georgian FA.
“We’re not just gonna go there and enjoy it”.
“It was to be expected that we would face nine or 10 players behind the ball and Ireland hitting long, hopeful balls”.
A draw of 2-2 or higher would send the Republic of Ireland through as they will have scored more away goals in meetings between the two sides.
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“In the past we’ve had one off games when we’ve got results but to qualify for this tournament, and done it in a bit of style, that’s a massive credit to Michael”, he said.
