Northern Ireland's Conor Washington says Euro 2016 exit to Wales was harsh
Sunday 26 June 2016 13:20, UK
Northern Ireland striker Conor Washington admits he would rather have crashed out of Euro 2016 after a heavy defeat to France than losing narrowly to Wales.
Michael O'Neill's side bowed out in the last 16 on Saturday when an own goal from Gareth McAuley 15 minutes from time handed Wales a 1-0 victory in Paris.
O'Neill called their elimination "very cruel" and Washington conceded he would have preferred the possibility of being outclassed by France who Northern Ireland would have faced had the Republic of Ireland not scored a late winner against Italy.
"It's devastating when the final whistle goes and you realise you're out," said the QPR forward, who came on as a 69th-minute substitute against Wales.
"It's been an unbelievable journey and none of us wanted it to end. It's such a harsh way to go out as well.
"We're just devastated to go out at this point but we've given everything and I don't think we can have any regrets looking back.
"They had one shot on target other than [the goal] which is an absolute killer really. It probably would have been better if we had met France and they had have outclassed us; it just makes it even more disappointing.
"We've got to pick ourselves up from this and take the experience we've had here into the next qualification campaign."
Like all of his team-mates, Washington insisted McAuley was not culpable for the country's exit having played a key role in helping them to qualify for their first European Championship finals.
"I don't think you can lay any blame on him," he said. "As a centre-half he has to get something on that because [Hal] Robson-Kanu is right behind him to tap it in anyway.
"Gareth's been absolutely brilliant all tournament and been a real rock for us. It's obviously disappointing for him for the tournament to end the way it has."
Leeds midfielder Stuart Dallas, who went close to scoring for Northern Ireland early on, was also gutted following the defeat.
He told Sky Sports News HQ on Sunday morning: "I'm still obviously disappointed with the outcome of the result. We put a lot into the game and we just didn't get that bit of luck which Wales obviously got with the own goal. It's still disappointing to go out.
"We were confident going into the game that we could get a result and unfortunately it just wasn't to be.
"We are proud of what we have achieved and we'll go back now and have a break and go back to our clubs ready to go again."
