‘Real sense of disappointment’ – O’Neill on Germany loss

After losing to Germany 3-1, Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill expressed a “real sense of disappointment” in the dressing room.

Germany led in Cologne when Serge Gnabry scored the opening goal, but O’Neill’s side rallied admirably with a corner goal.

Although NI had a good chance of defying the hosts, Nadiem Amiri and Florian Wirtz scored two goals in three minutes for Germany to claim a much-needed lead in Group A.

O’Neill told Gavin Andrews of BBC Sport NI, “We are very proud of the display, but there is a real sense of disappointment in the dressing room, which is understandable.”

O’Neill was left to lament some soft defending as Amiri’s defensive mistake allowed him to grab Germany’s second, and he also raised questions about the free-kick’s excellent dispatch.

“We were well in the game for 60 or 65 minutes,” he said. We could have protected the second goal better, but it’s a little freaky. The third goal is not a free kick. It’s a fantastic finish, he continued, “but it’s a soft free-kick.”

In the second half, I thought the referee was a little fussy. In the first instance, he made a good reference.

We had a chance to get to that final 15 minutes, and the game eventually veered off our radar, but we were still in the game.

Following their first two games, Northern Ireland finished second in Group A.

With two significant home games against Germany and Slovakia in October, O’Neill thinks his team is where they should be at this stage of qualifying.

He said, “It’s difficult to play two games away from home.” We were expecting more than we had anticipated, but we are disappointed that it isn’t even slightly more.