Northern Ireland were one of the surprise packages of Euro 2016 and will be looking to once again surprise people at the finals in France. The Northern Irish have been drawn against world champions Germany, Poland and Ukraine.
Germany head into the finals as favourites to win Group C and also the competition, but the other three nations will chance their chances of making the knockout stages.
Michael O’Neill’s team are the least fancied out of the three to make it out of the group, but following their strong performance in qualifying they will not fear their group opponents.
O’Neill has done a sterling job with Northern Irish team, who have struggled to make it to major tournaments. Most of their squad ply their trades in lesser leagues and they may not have as many household names as some of their rivals at Euro 2016.
However, O’Neill has fostered a fantastic team spirit amongst the current group of players and the team is more than the sum of its parts. The players give everything for their team, nation and boss, who striker Kyle Lafferty recently praised for his encouragement.
Lafferty is a player who is a good example of O’Neill’s good management. The striker struggled for first team football at Premier League Norwich, but scored seven goals in qualifying to help fire his nation to the finals.
Fellow strikers Will Grigg and Connor Washington have been in prolific form in the English lower leagues, so they will be confident of finding the target in France.
Northern Ireland will be written-off at Euro 2016, but you can be sure that they the team will give everything for the cause. In the process Michael O’Neill’s side may just continue to surprise people by making it out of their group.