Manager says side have to build on 'fantastic' start to qualifying campaign
Saturday 15 November 2014 13:42, UK
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill said he couldn’t have asked for any more from his side after they were beaten 2-0 by Romania in their Euro 2016 qualifier.
In a battle of the two unbeaten sides in Group F, it looked as though the spoils might be shared as the game remained goalless after 70 minutes.
But two goals in five minutes from Paul Papp eventually ended the visitors’ resistance and saw Romania take the win that lifts them top of Group F.
Northern Ireland slip down to second, a point behind Romania, but O’Neill told Sky Sports that his side gave their all in Bucharest.
“I couldn’t have asked for any more in terms of their commitment and work rate,” he said. “I think we know we can play a bit better. The players we had unavailable tonight hurt us, but we came up against a really good side.
“We defended fantastically for long periods, which we had to do, we possibly could have done a bit better with the opportunities we had on the counter attack, but we came within 15 minutes of getting a fantastic result. We didn’t hold on and it’s disappointing to lose the goals the way we did but I couldn’t have asked for more.”
While the result sees Northern Ireland give up top spot in Group F, they will be far from disappointed with their start to the campaign.
They sit on nine points after winning two of three tricky away trips and start the new year with back-to-back home games against Finland and Romania.
“I don’t think we could have had a more difficult start and to have nine points is testament to the effort of the players as a group,” said O’Neill. “We now have to use that fantastic platform in the home games. They will be equally as difficult but we have a chance to get to 15 points and if we can do that we will be in a very strong position.
“In the past this would have been a result we would have accepted but the players haven’t accepted it. They recognise we could have been better in certain areas but Romania are a very strong team, the strongest in the group, and we came within 15 minutes of taking a point.
"The best team on the night won there is no doubt but we have two home games to look forward to. It’s a fantastic start for us and we will get ready for March."
