11/09/2012 International Match of the Day

Northern Ireland's First Tom came of this World Cup qualifying

campaign. Luxembourg provide the opposition in Belfast and that

there to make it out of a very difficult, on the wedding will

suffice. You manager Michael O'Neill takes charge of his first

competitive fixture here at Windsor As a player, there were memorable

moments at Windsor Park for Michael O'Neill. As a manager, he has found

the going tough so far. Defeated at home to Norway in his first game in

charge. The goals soon came in the Finland friendly. It finished in a

3 - 3 draw. But when the World Cup started last week, there are more

defensive frailties as his men were beaten 2 - 0 by Russia. A real

chance for Keith Gillespie. Tonight, they play Luxembourg for the second

time ever. There is no David Healy. Instead, Kyle Lafferty and Dean

Luxembourg might be regarded as the Minnows in world football but they

will certainly be no pushover tonight. They give Portugal as

scare last weekend and there are 23 places above Northern Ireland in

the world rankings. And what it to get the thoughts of Jim Magilton

but first, to the action and we meaning three personnel changes.

Ryan McGivern is in 4 Craig Cathcart. Midfield, Shane Ferguson

takes over from Corry Evans. Ferguson plays left side with Chris

Brunt switching to the right-hand side. Dean Shiels gets back in to

join Kyle Lafferty in the search for goals. It's a very flexible 4 -

4 - 2. Luxembourg, they stick to the same starting 11 who lost 2 - 1

at home to Portugal. They usually play for - 5 - 1. The striker is

assisted by No. 9, Daniel Da Mota Alves. And the No. 8, p8 macro,

should play as the anchor man. -- Gilles Bettmer. The Northern

Ireland kick off. This is a real chance to get some points on the

board. 114 World Cup qualifier for Northern Ireland and a 53rd at home.

They have won 26 of those home games. That is a good ball and

early danger. He made the run. That was a good run from the young man

who has had a couple of goals at Rangers so far this season. That is

a bright start. Very tall, six feet and five inches, just behind him

full. Chris Brunt. Straight into the goalkeeper. Gareth McCauley, he

was up there. He has a couple of goals for West Brom this season and

he was so close to his third for Northern Ireland, but not to be.

Two years in the job, the manager. 55 caps as a midfielder, the only

survivor with Luxembourg from the only time we met before, 12 years

ago. That was in Luxembourg. Sally McIlroy's first game as manager and

the debut from David Healy, and he Jonathan Evans. The first

competitive start for Roy Carroll. In six years. There might be beat

Spain 6 - 2. That was a tender 2006. He was carried off after 12 minutes.

Maik Taylor took over. And the rest is history. That hat-trick from

David Healy. He was lucky, there. This is Daniel Da Mota Alves.

Portuguese extraction. He gets it wide. He was lucky to get that back.

Pressure from the men in red. That was a very poor effort, indeed.

That was ambitious. Tom Schnell. Six feet and four inches tall. No

problems for Roy Carroll. He looks really healthy these days. Playing

for an MP across in Greece. -- was a good effort from the lone

striker. Aurelien Joachim. He can thump the ball. Northern Ireland,

just a little bit fortunate, there. He lines up the shot... Good block.

Here is Chris Baird. Aaron Hughes. Gareth McCauley. And the chance to

run from Jonny Evans. That was a good sidestep. Still Jonny Evans.

That is a great ball! It could be 1-0! It is! Dean Shiels, his third

international goal and it is here at Windsor Park. That was a cool

finish. But we will give a lot of that credit to Jonny Evans. No

smiles from O'Neill. But he will be delighted. Jonny Evans. How is that

for the through ball? The keeper went down too early. And he

finished with great aplomb. He is the young man maturing into an

international player. I was talking to his father, Kenny, five minutes

before kick-off and he will be pleased. 1 - 0! Mathias Janisch.

Onward by Guy Blaise. That was well won by Ryan McGivern. Jonny Evans.

That was as silly challenge. From Ryan McGivern. Gareth McCauley and

Chris Baird going into this game with bookings against their name.

easily taken by Roy Carroll. That was not a bad ball. But it was

intercepted. Chris Brunt. He was almost in, but not quite. Could

there be something on here for Daniel Da Mota Alves? He will get

the free kick. He was running into Gareth McAuley. Oh, no! No, no, no!

Gareth McCauley is out of the game against Portugal next month. And I

think the manager knows that. Oh, dear, dear, dear. 16th October.

Portugal against Northern Ireland and he will not be there. Steven

Davis, finding Chris Baird. The utility man. He can play anywhere

in this team. Here comes Chris Brunt. And there is a chance for

him. Shows a little business. The keeper, double-fisted. But that is

the idea. Get those crosses into that danger area. Now... What is

happening here? Kyle Lafferty! And the flag was up on the side. That

is to have them that they have got into the net and to have not

counted. Let us see... It must be got that right. What does he do to

lift his touch? There is a man from Luxembourg down after that clash

with Kyle Lafferty. And there was a booking. For the big striker. He

said that it was shoulder to shoulder. Now... Northern Ireland

need to bring some discipline to the proceedings. Well... Six of one

and half a dozen of the other. Aaron Hughes. Finds Steven Davis.

The former skipper passing to the current skipper. That was a lovely

ball. Steven Davis. Things are opening up. Shane Ferguson. Wide to

the left. We have Chris Brunt, Kyle Lafferty. It does not get to either

of them. The men in green have started on their build up. That was

a lovely ball. And a good run. Aaron Hughes. Steven Davis. The

flick through. And the keeper was off his line very quickly. And that

time, Kyle Lafferty was onside but he could not get on to the end of

it. There was a resigned look on the face of O'Neill. He knows they

could have been 3 - 0 up, here. But run from Chris Brunt. And that will

drift away for the corner. And the chance to put more pressure on to

Luxembourg. The Big Ben are up. Dean Shiels is in there. And Kyle

Lafferty. Always looking. Chris Brunt, he drills that in. I really

thought that was 2 - 0. Chris Baird. Almost his first international goal.

And what a moment that would have been for Chris Baird. His 59th cap.

He is a man who isn't getting any regular games for Fulham. So close

to goal No. 2 for Northern Ireland. And his first international. Steven

Davis. Three minutes added on a the first -- at the end of this first

half. And there is a booking. D8 macro. He would not get out of the

way. -- Gilles Bettmer. He lays down the law. D8 macro. -- d8 macro.

Northern Ireland lead on bookings tonight, Shane Ferguson, I would

like to see that rectified in the second-half. It must be almost time

for the half-time cup of tea. It is now. There is the man who has the

only goal, Dean Shiels. Two for Rangers this season, and one for

Northern Ireland and that man there, the team talk should be fairly

straight-forward. He has had a couple disallowed. I think more

goals will follow in the second- half. At half-time here in this

Group F World Cup qualifier it's in motion. 45 minutes, Northern

Ireland hoping to get another couple of goals to press home the

advantage they have. Luxembourg will try to hit back. I wonder what

he has been saying, Michael O'Neill, in the dressing room at half-time?

Schnell goes on a run. That wasn't a bad ball. It was kept in play by

has gone off to accommodate Maurice Deville coming on. Joubert, left-

footed, suits him very well. Now, Davis. Northern Ireland will be

looking for something early in the second-half. Schnell, big, strong,

careful. He has to keep his head here. He's already been booked. The

linesman shakes his head. You were pulling the man. He was, left hand

on the red jersey, but then the defender's right hand was on the

green jersey. Six of one, half a dozen, whatever! That is Deville,

who is just into the action. That was Gareth McAuley who felt it.

Well, it didn't take him long. He's only been on for two minutes,

causing mayhem. Long by Joubert, won high Hughes and by brunt. Baird,

good lay off. Now, Ferguson. Lovely ball into the path of McGivern. He

was unlucky, but gets the corner. Up comes the noise from the stand.

I think the fans will be expecting amini goal rush in this second-half.

Ferguson makes his way into the middle. Davis. Not a good ball.

Ferguson, Brunt, plenty of space here, for the skipper. Hughes helps

it on. Encouraging for Northern Ireland. Shiels, a little flick,

the men in Red. In by Davis. Lafferty. Just couldn't get any

real power behind the cross, the break is on. That's superb covering

and superb pace from Jonny Evans. The flag will be up this time. Kyle

Lafferty, he need not look at the linesman, he should have been

looking across the line. It was all two, it's all a bit tight. Much too

tight. Brunt. Luxembourg players not happy with that challenge from

Chris Brunt brunt. -- Chris Brunt. Yellow card, for the big man from

West Brom. Well deserved. Yellow at least. It could have been worse

Now, and yet again, it's in the net, but it won't count. Frustration all

round Windsor Park. Oh, come on, referee! If you look at this replay,

the referee is giving the big man a lecture. He is in his stride. He

decided yet. Northern Ireland will be in Portugal. Favourites to win

the Group. They will be there without McAuley who got his second

booking. 14th November we are all back here with another chance to

pick up three points. You have to pick up, if you can, full points at

home. Deville! Well, Northern Ireland stood and watched. Michael

O'Neill will be going beserk down on that touchline. At times you

think Northern Ireland have switched off. Jonny Evans was there

with the block. Can the last 15 minutes produce a Northern Ireland

the flag will stay down against Lafferty. Lafferty on the left foot.

Oh, the keeper did so well. Well, he has had about three in the net

tonight, Lafferty, all disallowed. Very close there, with that finish.

by Davis. Jamie Ward. Davis. Gets it back. Good from Davis. Ward, a

chance to cross, he doesn't take it. He's take continue now. And, the

keeper takes it, with a little bit of difficulty, perhaps, but he

The linesman is waiting, once again, Lafferty is caught offside.

Lafferty is the only man who can sort this situation out. Time your

Here's the skipper, Davis. Oh, Brunt, 2-0 - it's not! Chris Brunt

should have buried it. He didn't. Denied by the woodwork. He has one

international goal that was in the World Cup away in San Marino,

three-and-a-half years ago. That should have been his second. Oh

dear, looks to the heavens. Yeah, Now, the break is on. Janisch gives

it wide. Da Mota there is the one- two. Da Mota. I can't believe it!

Luxembourg are back in this game, the man who scored against Portugal,

last Friday night, has scored in Belfast. Their first goal in

Belfast on this, their first visit. What a sickener, devastating blow

for Steve Davies, for Michael O'Neill. That's what you get when

you don't put the game to bed. Well, well, well, who did it come off?

Was it Ryan McGivern? It was McGivern. No fault can be attached

to him. Some fans have turned their back. They can't watch any more.

They came with high hopes. They were looking for a three or four

goal victory. It could have been on the cards. They had three in the

net, all disallowed. It's all too late. We can't complain about those.

Most of the decisions were right, if not all of them. Baird. McGivern.

The Luxembourg manager going frantic down that touchline telling

his men to keep working, to keep Northern Ireland out. This will be

a big point for them. Their first point of the campaign. They will

keep Northern Ireland in bottom place in Group F, after two games.

Is it over? Lafferty has made the hoof it, as far as they krks who

can blame them -- can, who can blame them? It looks like a late

substitution to take the heat out of things for Luxembourg, No 4,

Eric Hoffmann. He plays with a well-known Luxembourg side. He is

coming on for a young man who had a good game, I thought, the No 8,

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

There is going to be much disappointment for Northern Ireland,

if it stays this way. Is there any drama at the death? Not like that.

Unlucky... The referee brings us to an end. Michael O'Neill, bitterly

disappointed. I shake of the head. He looks to the floor. And draw

with Luxembourg was not in the script, that was not in the script.

But it does put into perspective our ranking. The days of beating

England here and beating Spain are but a distant memory at this moment.

They cannot wait to get in. They have not won away from home in four

years but this will feel in many ways like a victory. And in many

ways for Northern Ireland, Jonny Evans, superb at the back, it will

feel like a defeat. And it was a disappointing night at Windsor Park.

Nights like this, never easy. From the perfect start to unravel in the

second half. What went wrong? thought in the first after a very

good at times. We could have taken more care of the ball but we had

numerous opportunities and we should have been ahead by more at

half-time. The second half, we let the standards drop. 10 minutes

after kick-off, difficult to analyse but to be fair, we did not

pass the ball well enough. We did not have enough energy in the play.

They pressed higher up the pitch and we do that cope as well as you

could have but the rhythm got broken up with so many offside

decisions and so many disruptions and we were punished at the end.

Facing Portugal without Gareth McCauley. You are in a whole?

won point from six... One point from two games and that is the

situation. Dean Shiels, you're 13th cap and the first game seven years

ago, it looked like it was going to be the perfect evening. Talk about

that goal? It was a good start for the team and we started brightly

and I linked up well with Jonny Evans. He put in a perfect pass and

I manage to combine with the keeper. This is your first time back at

Windsor Park in six years. Did that feel good? It did, but not the

result. Very disappointed but coming back to the supporters, it

was nice to come back. Did you sense that that freakish goal might

be coming along the more that we became closer to the goal line?

first half was excellent, we played good football, we played well and

in the second half we just lost everything. We lost control, we

gave away too many free-kicks and we were offside too many times.

Things like that happen, freak accidents. They will have more time

to think about this because you miss the Portugal game. That must

be profoundly disappointing? referee was very picky upon what he

was doing. He booked me for persistent fouling. I played the

ball and the lads ran into me. It was more than a rash challenge.

Disappointed. But I must take this on the chill. You said they were

lacking energy. Will re energising then be difficult? I will see the

players five days before the Portugal game. That will not be an

issue. They are very disappointed and they know that and they do not

need me to re-emphasise that. We always knew the group was going to

be very difficult. Particularly the opening three fixtures. It is

disappointing not to get three points out. We let that slip. That

is a harsh lesson but one we must learn from. Two other matches

tonight. The Russia were easy winners away to Israel and Portugal

beat Azerbaijan at home. That leaves the group table looking like

this. Russia and Portugal joined at the top and Northern Ireland with a

lot of work to do. Joining me is Jim Magilton. That was a very

frustrating and disappointing night for Northern Ireland? It's not a

result anybody would have expected, in honesty. Northern Ireland had

enough opportunities to go end to this and take three points tonight.

Had they taken any of those opportunities, they would have gone

away happy winners but in this game, at whatever level, if you don't

take chances, it always gives the opposition encouragement. Even

sitting here tonight, you always felt there was going to be

something, something was in the air. Unfortunately, that deflected goal

gave Luxembourg the point. But the amount of opportunities they did

create, that will be a positive for Michael but they will not feel like

that tonight. They started brightly and scored that very nice goal?

Jonny Evans has that capability. Caring the ball out of the defence,

that was great play. Great ball, great finish. And you thought, this

is a platform to go on with. When you have gone through this sequence

of games where you have not won any. The confidence is fragile. And the

way they start to that second half, they tended to sit back. And I am

sure that Michael and belly and Tommy would have been encouraging

them to step forward and get onto the front foot and be positive but

the confidence is a very big thing in football and they were just

seeing this game out. They got bitten. As I say, there will be

some time to reflect upon us and it is a huge disappointment. What

about Kyle Lafferty? He will feel very frustrated. There were some

real borderline decisions. The lineman was trigger-happy in a lot

of those. One or two of those decisions could have gone his way

on another night. And those opportunities, he did finish. To be

fair to him. He got involved at the got involved with the lineman and

the referee. Hugely frustrating. Have Northern Ireland only

themselves to blame? They have so many chances. Chris Baird had a

chance. That was a great effort towards his way. And Chris Brunt.

And a couple of minutes later, that deflected goal. If they had been

more clinical in front of the goal, it would have been easy enough.

almost felt that at goal from Luxembourg was always coming?

did feel that in the stands. We were both sitting there and we were

watching this game and we kept thinking, this is giving them

encouragement. It was precarious. They did not really threaten the

goal. That was their third shot on goal but you just felt, tonight, it

was not going to be any night for Northern Ireland. Do they look like

a team that is lacking confidence? It can happen. If you go through a

spell of games, and we can all remember when Sammy McIlroy could

not get any when, and you have those runs. One of their greatest

strengths was clean sheets, especially here. And that is now a

big problem because they will concede a goal. And with that

goalkeeping situation, they can't looks like he has left? There is no

blame attached to Roy Carroll. I think you go on that run of games,

the confidence is very low. They cannot seem to see out any game,

now. And they have given the opposition an opportunity to score

a goal. Tonight is a night of frustration for them all and I am

sure they will be very disappointed. Thank you very much. And finally,

let's check on some other results. Ingrid a... Wheels were heavily

beaten by Serbia, 6 - 1. 1 - 1 between Scotland and Macedonia and

there was a late Frank Lampard equaliser that earned England that

draw against Ukraine. Steven Gerrard was also sent off. And in

this international friendly this evening, the Republic of Ireland

beat Hull man 4 - 1. But here at Windsor Park, Northern Ireland run