Northern Ireland's Michael O'Neill wary of German backlash
Sunday 9 October 2016 14:24, UK
Michael O'Neill has warned his Northern Ireland squad they must be braced for a resurgent Germany following their failure to win Euro 2016 this summer.
The Northern Irish travelled to Hannover on Sunday after a routine 4-0 triumph over San Marino and O'Neill will make his players watch a rerun of their defeat to the Germans in June as part of their preparations for their next meeting on Tuesday, live on Sky Sports 1HD from 7pm.
It will not be comfortable viewing given the world champions were so formidable despite recording just a 1-0 success that day in a tournament where O'Neill thought they were the stand-out nation.
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However, Joachim Low's team would fall to the hosts France at the semi-final stage and O'Neill believes their comfortable World Cup qualifying wins over Norway and the Czech Republic since are evidence of a team with a point to prove.
"We're under no illusions as to what type of game it's going to be," O'Neill said.
"We played them recently in the Euros; that's a big thing in our favour. There will be no surprise element in terms of how tough this game is going to be.
"I think the players will be ready based on the fact that they've faced a German team in the Euros who probably hit top gear against us. If you look at their first two games, they're reacting, possibly, to not having won in France.
"I felt they were the best team in the competition and they slipped up in terms of how they went out. We have to be ready for that backlash because I think they've started this campaign in a different mindset than possibly they did for the Euros when they dropped points against teams that I think they wouldn't normally do."
There will almost certainly be personnel changes from the victory over San Marino - O'Neill suggested "as many as five or six" - and Kyle Lafferty will be at the front of the queue following his brace from the bench.
Aaron Hughes, 36, was brought into the fold with this contest in mind and Corry Evans' industry in midfield may be needed in a game set to be dictated, as usual, by Die Mannschaft's Toni Kroos.
Focusing on the Real Madrid man or any other specific player is considered frivolous by O'Neill, though.
"I've found that when you do start to possibly nullify them in one aspect they start to hit you with another problem," he said.
"As soon as you try to solve something, there's another problem that exists. That's down to the quality of the players that they have.
"Tactically, they've really evolved and they can pin you in with possession of the ball."
