Euro 2016 memories aplenty – but O’Neill focused on future

Whenever Northern Ireland face Ukraine, it is inevitable that the memories start coming back.

The hailstones that halted the game, the Gareth McAuley header, Niall McGinn wheeling away in pure elation and the endless renditions of ‘Will Grigg’s on fire’.

Whether you were at the game or watching at home, it’s hard to believe 10 years have passed since that famous day in France at Euro 2016.

But for Michael O’Neill, who was in the dugout that day in Lyon, it’s not time for reflection.

He understands why fans and media want to talk about it. It is, after all, one of the most famous days in Northern Ireland’s history, but his focus is firmly on what is to come.

“We don’t keep reflecting back on that game and telling the players this is what we aspire to be,” he told BBC Sport NI in Trnava.

“This team hopefully can write its own history and we have to allow them to do that.”

Of the squad who are in Slovakia, which is hosting the game due to the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, only two players from the Euros squad remain.

Josh Magennis and Paddy McNair – himself only 31 – are the elder statesmen of a young squad, while former Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis is now a key member of O’Neill’s coaching team.

To put into context how long ago that famous day was, current squad members Ceadach O’Neill and Braiden Graham were only eight-years-old.

Even players with 25-plus caps like Trai Hume, Shea Charles, Isaac Price and Brodie Spencer were still a few years away from taking their GCSEs at that point.

The average age of the starting team in Georgia was just 23, while that dropped to just 22.5 against Hungary.

“We may use certain examples of players from those games at Euro 2016 – the likes of Steven Davis, Jonny Evans, Gareth McAuley or Stuart Dallas – as good examples for players to aspire to be.

“But for me, this team is about the future and what lies ahead.”

‘Ukraine’s stregth is their collective’

The ultimate aim for O’Neill is to lead his young squad to a first major tournament since 2016 when the next Euros roll around in 2028.

Their return to the second tier in the Nations League has been successful so far, with Charles scoring a 99th-minute winner in Georgia before the team showed their character with a goalless draw at home to Hungary.

The players definitely looked tired in the closing stages of the draw, which can be put down to the 5,000-mile return trip to Tbilisi, but they held their own against Dominik Szoboszlai’s side.

Before that, Northern Ireland had kept Paris Saint-Germain winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia quiet in the opener.

While Ukraine do not have the individual star power of the other teams in League B2, O’Neill knows they are still a dangerous side.

He described them as favourites on Friday night, and pointed to the fact that manager Andrea Maldera had made 10 changes between their opening 1-0 win in Hungary and the goalless draw with Georgia in their second game.

“Ukraine’s strength is in their collective as a team, rather than what we faced against Georgia with Kvaratskhelia and Hungary with Szoboszlai, who are top European players.

“I think that Ukraine have many players that have potential to be on that level and go to the big, big clubs in Europe.

“We haven’t highlighted any one individual, but we’ve looked very closely at how they play, with the ball and without the ball, and I believe their strength is in the collective of the team.”