Every tournament has their share of underdogs. From the NCAA Tournament to the World Cup, there is the little guy that neutral fans want to root for. The European Championships are no different. This year’s Euro qualifying produced five debuting nations for this summer’s tournament. Each team have their niche entering this competition. Wales have Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale. Iceland’s scant population make them a lovable story. Albania and Slovakia have already given good accounts of themselves. One team though has emerged as the team neutrals can truly get behind. Northern Ireland and their fans are having fun and making waves as well. It is best that you come along for the ride.
Like their neighbors to the south, Northern Ireland has tremendous travelling support. Because of this their games have had a more festive atmosphere amidst a sea of hooliganism at the event. There is an air of “just happy to be here” yet still exuding confidence. Their team’s performance has more than helped that confidence build.
Northern Ireland won their Euro qualifying group with just one loss. That lone loss came against Romania, qualifying’s top defense and fellow qualifier. They beat Euro 2004 winners Greece twice. The Green and White Army are viewed as defense first like those two, but they also have an exciting counter attack. Their draw in the tournament put both of those to the test straight away.
To be matched up with Germany, Poland, and Ukraine is no walk in the park. But you could tell from the opening moments of their game against Poland that there was zero intimidation felt by Northern Ireland. They went toe to toe with qualifying’s highest scoring team. Qualifying’s top scorer, Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, was bottled up by the Northern Ireland defense. It took a moment of brilliance from Arkadiusz Milik to send them to defeat. After it all though you could tell that Michael O’Neill’s men weren’t broken by the course of events. In fact, it seemed like the squad were emboldened by the loss.
It at least looked that way as Northern Ireland took on Ukraine. With Poland and Germany near certainties to advance, this was a must win for both sides. While Ukraine had their own issues with qualification in the past, they were a top 20 team coming into the Euros. They had the bigger names in Dynamo Kiev’s Andriy Yarmolenko and Sevilla’s Yehven Konoplyanka. But even a flash hail storm couldn’t deter the underdogs.
Ukraine had to feel more confident seeing the names Kyle Lafferty and Will Grigg on the bench for Northern Ireland. Lafferty scored a team high seven goals for his country in qualifying. Will Grigg joined him as one of the focal points in attack, to the point where one of the more infectious chants of the tournament spawned. However, this team proved against Ukraine to be so much more than those two. Gareth McAuley and the defense kept Ukraine out of the danger areas.
Rain is usually a hindrance to defenders, but the Irish seemed to use it to their advantage. Stuart Dallas turned defensive stops from his teammates into shots at the other end seamlessly. He stung the hands of keeper Andriy Pyatov on several occasions. As the deluge continued, smiles never left the faces of the Irish players or fans. The first half came to a close with nothing to separate the two sides. Northern Ireland clearly had the upper hand though.
That upper hand came down like a hammer fist four minutes from the restart. McAuley, a man who had done so well in organizing the defense, headed home across his body to give Northern Ireland their first goal in international tournament play since the 1986 World Cup. The chants grew louder and the singing nearly drowned out commentary on both the radio and television. It was a constant hum of joy for the next 45 plus minutes before it got even louder when Niall McGinn put home Northern Ireland’s second six minutes into stoppage time. Outside of Iceland’s draw with Portugal, it was probably the result of the tournament thus far.
I personally am rooting for Northern Ireland to advance. I’ll be rooting for them against Germany in their final group stage match. With stories emanating from France every day about atrocities from fan bases, it is stories like Northern Ireland that bring everything back into perspective. Sport is about community and passion, not violence and segregation. Northern Ireland and their contingent show that in the stands as well as on the pitch. In a world of cynicism, a team like this can pop up and make sport fun again. Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are two nations on the forefront of that. You could be cheering on your ancestor’s homeland. You may be rooting for Germany or Spain to win. You may want France to take it on their home soil.
But in the end, we all hope teams like Northern Ireland stick around as long as possible because they may this tournament a celebration instead of a chore. Get on the bus people.