By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
Northern Ireland’s 12-match unbeaten run in international
football is over. The plucky Irish, who were playing in their first major
tournament since the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico were downed 1-0 by Poland
in Nice.
Group C in EURO 2016 got underway in sweltering temperatures
and it was the Poles who had far too much quality for their opponents
throughout. Chances were at a premium though. It was Ajax’s Arkadiusz Milik
who proved to be the difference, scoring the solitary goal five minutes into
the second half.
Draw
gamble
The city of Nice is only nine miles away from Monte Carlo
and it was clear that Northern Ireland were here to gamble. Sadly though, this
was not in the attacking sense. Michael O’Neill had set his team up to be
compact and organised by playing three central defenders in a 5-4-1 formation.
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| Arkadiusz Milik shows his delight after scoring the only goal in Nice |
It did frustrate Poland, especially in the first half. Milik (pictured) missed a couple of good opportunities, but their main man, the lethal Robert
Lewandowski was kept relatively quiet.
As soon as Poland scored, Northern Ireland had to come out
and play. They huffed and puffed but there wasn’t enough on show to seriously
leave Wojciech Szczesny breaking a sweat.
Kyle Lafferty fed on scraps all day. He scored seven goals
in qualifying but will need a partner in attack to give him more chances. Conor
Washington came on in the second half to help out, but the former postman was
another who didn’t have much influence.
The gamble was to play for the draw. O’Neill rolled the dice
and this time, it didn’t produce the right result.
Frustration
for Lewandowski
Lewandowski came into the tournament with a big burden on
his shoulders. He carries the hopes of a nation, similar to Gareth Bale for
Wales and Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic. It turned out to be a frustrating
afternoon.
His impact on the game was restricted by the man-marking job
deployed on him by Jonny Evans. The pair clashed on several occasions in feisty
and combative battles and it was clear Lewandowski wanted further protection
from the referee.
Maybe he’s not used to this sort of tight job on him in the
Bundesliga but Evans deserves praise for keeping the goal machine limited to
half sights of the Northern Irish posts.
Whilst they were the better team, Poland didn’t create much
in terms of working Northern Ireland goalkeeper Michael McGovern, but they won’t
care. They got the three points which means they finally have their first
victory at a European Championship final tournament.
This time, it was Milik was delivered the knockout blow but
they’ll have to play better against Germany on Thursday night if they want to make
it back-to-back wins.
For Northern Ireland, it was a spirited attempt but not
enough final quality going forward was their downfall. They must get something
against Ukraine in Lille, also on Thursday to realistically have any hope of
staying in France for the knockout rounds.
My best
three players of the match
Man of the Match: Arkadiusz Milik (Poland)
On a day where Lewandowski wasn’t at his brilliant best,
Poland’s no.2 in the attacking duo stepped up to the mark. Milik was the man
who settled this tight encounter with a nice goal and if his finishing was a
bit calmer, might have scored a hat-trick.
2nd: Jonny Evans (Northern Ireland)
Lewandowski needed to be man-marked to stop his influence on
the game and Evans did that terrifically. It was a sound performance, never
giving the Pole a moment of peace. He was unlucky to be on the losing side.
3rd: Jakub Blaszczykowski (Poland)
Blaszcykowski has shown his experience for many years now
with the Polish national team and it showed in Nice. It was his gamebreaking
run that set the chance up for Milik to score the winner. It will be
interesting to see if he stays at Borussia Dortmund at club level after a loan
spell last term with Fiorentina.
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