A spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Nice, France”.
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Surely it won’t be as confusing as the time England met Liechtenstein, whose own anthem shares a tune with that of the United Kingdom.
A banner has also been made which will be erected in the stadium, and fans will honour the 24-year-old in the 24th minute of the match.
Darren Rodgers, 25, died after falling 26 feet onto a rocky beach in Nice in the early hours of Monday. “The victim was taken to Nice hospital but has since died”.
While Kyle Lafferty said: “Devastating news I’ve woke up to”.
“As we move from Nice to Lyon, Darren will be in our thoughts and, on behalf of the Portadown NISC, we would like to extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends at this extremely sad time”.
Northern Ireland won their qualifying group thanks in part to supreme defensive organisation and that was in evidence in Nice, where Evans and Gareth McAuley excelled as part of a three-man central defence.
Ballymena man Darren Rodgers was in France with friends to support the Northern Ireland team at Euro 2016.
John Delaney, FAI CEO, said that it was a awful day for football and a tragic day for the young man’s family.
“They were very, very powerful in every area of the team and that’s something we’re going to have to adapt to very quickly, because I don’t envisage Ukraine will be any different prospect in that respect”.
Among those leading the tributes were Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster, who was at the Poland match, and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who visits next week.
He said: “You think things are bad then learn one of your own loses his life last night”.
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Meanwhile, Jonny Evans believes the Poland defeat means Michael O’Neill’s team face a “make or break” game against Ukraine to salvage their Euro 2016 hopes.
