Oxtoby sees NI’s ‘growth’ after securing play-off

Tanya Oxtoby, the manager of Northern Ireland, believes that her side’s 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina in Zenica demonstrates her side’s “growth.”

Sofija Krajsumovic’s equalizer for Bosnia ended Captain Simone Magill’s composed effort, but NI won the draw, which resulted in second place in the group and a promotion play-off.

Despite the nerve-wracking nature of the draw, Oxtoby praised the players’ persistence in getting a result, which is an improvement over their third-place finish in the previous edition of the Nations League.

“It’s always a challenging place to travel because we should have scored a few more goals in the first half, and we conceded a sloppy one,” she said. “But to show the character that the game is out is all that matters at this point,” she said.

Every game was going to be competitive in this group, and you have to show the character and resilience, I said. “In international football there are no easy games.

After finishing third in their respective League A groups, Northern Ireland will now face one of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, or Iceland in the play-offs in October. The draw will take place on Friday.

Oxtoby emphasized that a whole squad effort is required to reach League A for the first time, especially after a challenging trip to Bosnia.

Everyone contributes and adds value to what we’re doing, she said when you discuss the culture of the group.

It takes everyone, I told the players, regardless of whether you played or not you contributed to the group’s success.