Northern Ireland v Norway International Match of the Day

It is the start of a new era for Northern Ireland football. A new

manager, a new captain and new plans to redevelop went airpark.

Tonight Norway are the visitors to Belfast for Michael Neil's first

game in charge. He was the unanimous choice to take the

Northern Ireland hot seat. As a player he had an international

pedigree of some repute. And an eye for goal. He cut his managerial

teeth as boss of Brechin City in Scotland. But it was at Shamrock

Rovers where he really made his mark. And as he took control of

Northern Ireland this week, it went weak at BBC sport at a problem. How

do you think this is going to impact on Stephen Moss? I am not

sure, I will have to get somebody else to answer those intricate

questions he used to throw at me. We have replaced Michael with this

man, Gerry Taggart. You know Michael well, what will he bring to

this job? He will be very well organised. Hopefully he brings an

attacking flair that maybe we have not seen in the last few years. He

was an attacking player himself. Hopefully he will bring back across

in his style of management and the players will show that on the pitch.

How difficult will it be for him to change what is a dismal record for

Northern Ireland, just two wins in the last 24 games. We have not got

the strength and depth of other countries. He is going to have to

try and change the mentality of the players. We have got nothing to

lose as far as I am concerned. We have to go out and show the fans we

have got guts and thunder and give them everything we have got.

will hear more from you after the game. It is time to see how Michael

O'Neill gets on in his debut as Northern Ireland have manager, in

the company of Jackie Fullerton. He makes his debut as a manager. He

takes over at a difficult time. They are languishing in 86th place

in the world rankings. A massive challenge, but he knows that.

Steven Davis is very proud to lead the side out. Captain of Rangers

and captain of his country. Young Shane Ferguson, the second cap for

a young boy from Newcastle United. Looking at the first Northern

Ireland line-up, the fans are really pleased to see the name of

Aaron Hughes. His retirement plans have been shelled. He joins Jonny

Up front no place for David Healy. You will spot a few familiar names

here. John are no reserve and Morten Pedersen. Nor are they won

4-1 in Belfast in 2004. Havard Nordtveit is another one to keep an

eye on and there is reports of that Liverpool have made a bid of over

O'Neill era begins here, it begins now. Jonny Evans took care of

business on that occasion. His form has been described by Sir Alex

to wait. The keeper was in two minds whether to come or not. It is

his first cap tonight. Seven years at Liverpool, won the Champions

trepidation about playing Norway in Belfast in February. On the last

visit Norway won 4-1. On the Norwegians. Just one Northern

Ireland when, 1975, the European Championships. 3-0 that state. That

was not too far away. The keeper obviously got a touch. He has not

scored for Northern Ireland, but he was very close then. He let it go.

The keeper got a hand to it. Rune Jarstein, well saved. Good pressure

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City player, but he is on loan at another club. Martin Paterson could

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Once again Northern Ireland could not get on the end of it. It was

support. Norway are making a bit of a hash of things. Gareth Macaulay

from West Bromwich Albion having a few problems. Northern Ireland

international very impressively. He looks like a schoolboy, doesn't he?

He is 20. The first game at Windsor Park. His first game was three

years ago in a friendly against Rune Jarstein. All six feet four

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inches of the keeper. I am not sure Morten Pedersen. He hit that over

were stretched. He did not get over it, but it is easy to sit up here

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Just wide of the post. The big man from West Brom so close to a third

international goal. Relief for Rune Jarstein and company. All very

shaky in that defence. Northern Ireland must have thought they had

scored, but they had not. Perhaps Gareth McAuley could have done

better. But it was a good save it great ball. A rare mistake by the

reliable Mr Hughes. Three minutes to half-time. They do not want to

concede at this stage of the game, friendly or no friendly. It has

been given. It is that man we talked about, Liverpool are

watching him. Northern Ireland were not watching him closely enough at

this corner. It took a touch, I am sure, on the way through, but as

back on their heels by that Norwegian goal. Gareth McCauley

needs to deliver the cross, get it into the danger area. There is no

time for that. It is half-time. It was not a bad first half and a just

a couple of minutes before the break. The shut by Havard Nordtveit

was deflected by Sammy Clingan. The Vikings have brought a bugler.

Aaron Hughes has gone off. Evans has gone off because Hull City

wanted him only to play 45 minutes because they have again on Friday

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night. Michael O'Neill alongside very close to number three. That

but it was never going goalwards, no matter how hard the new skipper

made the run. It was not the worst of balls, but he was always under

pressure and he did not get the room. He was slightly behind. Paddy

McCourt is a man who can light up any game. He is coming on in the

plays of Shane Ferguson. A young man has committed himself to

Northern Ireland. There was talk of him going to the Republic. Paddy

McCourt, we will always remember his two goals against the Faroe

getting a game at Celtic these days illuminate Windsor Park once again?

For the home fans that would be buzz when McCourt gets the ball.

The footwork, the trickery. In he goes. That's a lovely ball. All the

which across. In by Davies, it won't come to anything, though.

Number 15, Martin Paterson coming off. David Healy is on for his

92ened cap. The most capped outfield player in our history.

Taking over from Mal Donaghy who had 91.

Now, Pedersen, off to Nordtveit. This is very good. Well, he would

have taken the net off there with that one. But unlucky, the big man

who scored 14 international goals in the previous 100 caps. Just

about a few inches too high that time.

Substitutes Elyounoussi, the men in the helmets are delighted. So is he.

Third international goal for Tarik Elyounoussi. Sloppy defending by

there is the gap and the finish. Camp will not be happy being beaten

at his near post. No keeper likes that. But it's a dagger through the

heart of Michael O'Neill and Northern Ireland right at the death.

apart from - well everybody else will be disappointed but Evans is

well used to winning at Manchester here in 2004, Olsen, when they won

4-1 and a certain Michael O'Neill was playing for Northern Ireland.

And here they are meeting under different circumstances and still

I think it was McCann. David Healy, as he takes that little bit of

history, 92ened cap, it's a remarkable record for our record

goal scorer, but defeat will not sit easily on his shoulders. We

just wish Healey, Davis and Laferty all the best when they have that

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trimming of the staff at Ibrox, crept over the line. Sensational

finish that. Well, well, what a goal. Number 14, Espen Ruud. First

goal, he played in several of the qualifiers, he's never scored. He

has now! 3-0. Good strike. Camp unlucky. It's a

very good skill to hit a ball like that and he hit it well. Straight

and through the heart of Michael O'Neill and Northern Ireland. The

referee brings it to an end. It's a disappointment for Michael O'Neill.

No points at stake, but he has his debut over. He will have learned a

lot. Big, big challenge ahead of him and this defeat will have

underlined that. Next up is Holland, plenty to

Ponder for the new manager. Disappointment for the new Captain.

Disappointment for the previous Captain. David Healy, no goals,

like his last appearance before in 2004 against Norway. Michael

getting a good reception, despite the result. But disappointment all

round for Northern Ireland. Final score in this friendly

was how it was billed but the wrong result obviously? Yeah, a little

bit disappointed. Thought first half we were good, restricted them

and dealt with it easily, bar the goal. But the second half made a

few changes. We gave away a couple of sloppy goals. At one down, then

following that there was a moment of ping-pong in the box where you

were among one of three or four who thought they were going to stick it

in the net, what happened? It was a bit of a freak one really. Me, and

McAuley and Owen, all three of husband a chance. It wasn't to be.

Defended it quite well. It was billed as the O'Neill era, the

wrong result, how did you sense the game? I am in charge, I didn't bill

it as the O'Neill era. It's my first game in charge. The result's

very disappointing, you can't get away from that word disappointing.

The lads are disappointed. There was a lot of positives as well, I

don't think it was a fair reflection in the game, certainly

not the first half. We had to make changes and disrupt us a little bit

in the back four, no doubt about that. We saw some players on view

tonight, certainly Ferguson and Shields had good games, Clingan had

an excellent game as well and Davis and Evans both good performances,

so when we look at it tomorrow we will find a lot of positives there.

But obviously disappointed with the result. Beyond the blooding of

those new players, what other positives can you point to in a 3-0

defeat? You can point to the fact that we have to - we had two days

with the players and worked hard and how we tried to pass the ball

and retain possession of the ball and for long periods of the first

half we did that. We were difficult to break down the first half as

well, the disappointing aspect was the goal from a setpiece second

half and maybe we weren't as potent as in the first half in relation to

how we retained the ball certainly. So, you know, you can be

overcritical at times. It's ease tkwroeu look at the scoreline and

pick holes in it, but we will look at the performance and we look for

the positives. For the players what is your assessment of the

performance and of the new man in? Performance-wise I think we got off

to a good start, especially the first half. We came ourt and took

on board what the manager wanted us to do, get the ball down and play

and the only thing mising from the first half performance was the goal

which we never got. Obviously, to concede late on first half is a bit

of a blow, but overall we are pleased. He blooded a few new faces

tonight, presumably a game like this evening is about prepping for

what will be a very, very difficult World Cup qualifying group?

Definitely, it's the first game of the manager's rein and it was a

good performance, especially first half and we have a tough group and

about the new young faces, Shane Ferguson came in and was terrific

on the left side and I am glad we have him on board and also Dean

Shields who has been out of the frame came on and got Man of the

Match performance. Got to ask but the current situation at Rangers,

did you see it coming and what is it like at the moment? I am back to

my club tomorrow and I will know more about the situation then. At

this point in time time there's not much to say. Regarding the future,

it's continue to play and hope they get it right in the boardroom?

That's all we can do, is try and maybe give the fans a boost on the

pitch and continue to do our best between the end of the season.

performance wasn't down to lack of application or lack of - down to

lack of effort, there was fatigue there at the end with the last few

minutes. So, there's no benefit in going in and giving the players a

blast on that basis, as I say, we will take positive side of things

and we will look at things tomorrow in the cold light of day and I will

see where we can build on things. So defeat for Michael O'Neill in

his first game in charge, beaten 3- 0. Did Northern Ireland and Michael

deserve better? I don't think so. I think if you take an overall

analysis of the game, Michael will be pretty pleased with some of the

play, especially in the first half. They looked comfortable on the ball.

They created good opportunities without really testing the

Norwegian keeper. Once or twice they probably would have felt they

should have scored. I think overall the way they kept the ball at times,

the movement off the ball, the way the front two interlinked was

pretty good and so some positive things to bring out of tonight's

game. Ed so Ed so good attacking play in the first half, Ferguson

and Shields certainly lit up the park at times. I was impressed with

Shields. If one was coming short the other one was stretching the

back four in behind and that's good forward play. They caused the back

four a few problems. Unfortunately, at the end of it all there was no

end product or no killer instinct to put the ball in the back of the

net and that's something Michael will probably want to work on the

next time he meets up with his players. Northern Ireland should

have scored but didn't take their chance and then Norway did. That's

the difference. Full stop. You know, Norway didn't really I would say

impress early on in the game, but we all know they're a big side and

they had three or four set-pieces which in fairness were pretty poor,

up until the one that they scored from. It was a good ball in. The

goal came from a second phase, which they were more alert to than

Northern Ireland defence. The guy pounced on it and it took a

deflection into the bottom corner, so credit Norway. But as I say, it

came in the 44th minute, so Northern Ireland will be

disappointed to give away a goal so late on in the half. In the second

half Northern Ireland came out fresh, looked good. Were you

impressed? Again, they looked lively up front. Interpassing was

very good. Again got into great positions. Especially out wide.

They had chances to put good final balls into the six-yard box into

the penalty area and that was the only thing that let them down, that

final pass and good positions, especially from Davis who is very

reliable with his passing. He was chipping balls in to the keeper's

hands or he wasn't missing the first man. So, it then became

frustrating I feel for Michael and in the end we seen him make a few

changes. Obviously this is a results-driven business and in the

end giving away two goals Michael will be very disappointed. That's

right. I think, especially the third goal, you know, as I have

just said, there was a lot of subs subs - substitutions made,

sometimes that can be made to the detriment of the the team, to both

teams. The game sort of went flat. It got stretched. McCourt Came on,

we know how much ability he has, he went wandering a little bit. The

game opened up the right side, Northern Ireland's left. In the end,

Norway capitalised on that really. I don't think Michael will be too

disappointed with the two goals near the end. If he takes the

positives he will be thinking they need to be more clinical in front

of goal. Is this an early reality check for Michael, just saying to

him how difficult this is going to be? I think he's learned a lot

about his players tonight. Definitely. He's learned a lot

about some of the opposition he is going to come up against in the

World Cup qualifiers. At the end of the day, you know, the real

business is when the qualifiers come around. You can say what you

want about friendlies and tonight was a typical friendly for me, a

nothing game where OK sometimes when you play friendlies you play

your strongest team and it always has something in it, but today as

the game went on the importance of the game sort of just waivered a

little because there was that many substitutions being made. I don't

think Michael will be too disappointed. Obviously your first

game as manager you want a win, a positive result, a positive

performance, a positive response from the fans. It didn't happen.

The performance was good, lots to work on. One interesting spectator

here tonight was the Celtic manager Neil Lennon, back at Windsor Park

after ten years, the last time he played Norway here he was booed by

his own fans. Glad to see him make the journey back? Absolutely. I had

a quick chat with Neil during the game. He is a very close friend of

mine. So, great to see him back. Obviously, he had a couple of his

players on show tonight. So, he gave his all for Northern Ireland.

Obviously he's managing Celtic at the minute, but it's good to see a

lot of ex-Northern Ireland players back here tonight, not just him,

but especially I suppose Neil after what happened so many years ago.

Thank you very much indeed. Neil Lennon taking a seat here at

Windsor Park for the first time in ten years. He spoke to Mark.

Those days are long gone, it's completely incidental now. I

haven't been here at Windsor Park, I have done my coaching badges and

been in Belfast the last consecutive years three or four

four times and I am on really good courses I learned a lot which has

stood me in good staid now. Do you sense this is a place in transition,

Windsor Park will be redeveloped t seems football is moving on at a

gallop. I think football's moving on at a gallop in all aspects of

the game worldwide and Europe, British, and we have to maintain

that standard as well. I am pleased that Windsor Park is getting

redeveloped, it could do with a lick of paint here and there, if

you are going to have international games you want a international

class stadium to go with it. suppose the abuse that you have

taken has been well documented, set that to one side, as a former

Captain of your country, presumably you still keep one eye on the

results and now with Michael at the helm, your old mate? Delighted

Michael has the job and it's his first game tonight. He had a

fantastic time at shamrock Rovers, he has done his bit, probably the

job's come a bit sooner than what he expected, but I am sure he will

make the most of it and all managers, I mean, I have two

players in the squad that will will give him a full backing and wish

him every success for the job in hand.

There have been other friendly tonight that Northern Ireland's

next game, which is against Holland in the Amsterdam Arena, on Saturday

2nd June, will be live on BBC Northern Ireland television.