NI ‘showed a lot of character’ in Denmark defeat

Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill was proud of the character shown by his players in Saturday’s 2-1 friendly defeat in Denmark.

Northern Ireland made the perfect start when Shea Charles ‘ effort touched off Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and into the net in the sixth minute.

However, Denmark rallied and their pressure was rewarded when the impressive Gustav Isaksen curled home on the stroke of half-time.

The hosts carried that momentum after the restart and took the lead in the 67th minute through Christian Eriksen’s close-range finish.

Substitute Mika Biereth swiftly had a goal ruled out for offside, but O’Neill was pleased with how his young squad soaked up pressure and stayed in the game until the final whistle.

“We showed a lot of character, we stayed in the game at 2-1 which isn’t easy”, he told BBC Sport NI.

The friendly in Copenhagen, and Iceland’s visit to Windsor Park on Tuesday are the final two qualifiers before Northern Ireland begin their World Cup qualifying campaign in September.

They start their bid in Luxembourg and Germany, and also face Slovakia in Group A.

O’Neill said his side “got off to a good start” in Denmark and defended well, but struggled to keep hold of possession and that pressure only intensified in the second half as Denmark dominated the ball.

“It’s a very young team against an experienced team”, O’Neill added, as his 26-strong squad only contained one player over the age of 30 in the form of substitute George Saville.

“Physically it was tough at times for us but overall we got what we wanted out of the game.