Northern Ireland's Jamie Ward and Corry Evans hope to upset Germany's rhythm
Sunday 19 June 2016 21:42, UK
Northern Ireland winger Jamie Ward thinks his team's high-tempo may cause some problems for Germany on Tuesday.
Michael O'Neill's side face the World Champions in their final Group C clash at Euro 2016 in Paris with a place among the last 16 teams up for grabs.
Three points would guarantee progression for Northern Ireland, on an evening when they are expected to spend much of the match without the ball.
Their opponents Poland and Ukraine had at least 60 per cent of possession in both of Northern Ireland's two Group C games and the Germans, who boast Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira in their midfield, have a competition-high 63 per cent of possession after two fixtures.
Although the task for the Northern Irish appears daunting, Ward is assured of his team's best attribute ahead of the clash with Germany.
"It's our work-rate," Ward said. "We're a hard-working team, we don't like to give people time on the ball so it might be something a little bit different from what the Germans have experienced in the past."
Corry Evans, who will be part of the midfield tasked with restricting the influence of Germany's, accepts Northern Ireland will likely surrender the majority of possession to their opponents, though he thinks that suits them just fine.
"We've had probably the least possession out of the group so far; we know we're not going to dominate games with the ball," Evans said.
"Our strengths are out of possession, pressing and getting around our opponents and making it difficult. The Germans might not have faced that yet and hopefully we can surprise them on Tuesday."
