#Daretodream

#Daretodream is the hashtag which accompanied Northern Ireland’s fantastic result against Finland at the end of March, but should we begin thinking about a funderland in France next summer?

With Michael O’Neill’s men four points clear in second position and only one point of the lead in Group F, no doubt there are many amongst us who are already packing their bags and planning out for an European Championship finals experience. However, with the campaign only half way through it is understandable how some are having sleepless nights already, especially with memories of Black September 2007 fresh in many a mind.

For those of you who are at a loss to the Black September 2007 reference, cast your memory back to that year when Lawrie Sanchez was King of Northern Ireland having taken the scalps of Spain in that historic 3-2 Windsor win and led us on a run of four wins, a draw and a loss in our European Championships campaign. With a similar exuberance as we are feeling now, dreams were in the making for what was believed could be our first visit to the finals of that competition.

Then things began to unravel with Lawrie following the lure of the English Premiership to Fulham and beige Nigel stepping into his shoes.

Everything continued to seem rosy following a comprehensive win against Liechtenstein at the end of August, leaving us three points of the pace with five games remaining and the next two games deemed winnable against Icelandic and Latvian sides who had been struggling. And then disaster struck with Worthington deciding to try and make his mark on the team by dropping Craigan and disrupting a winning formula.

First up came a 1-0 defeat in Riga when Chris Baird scored an own goal to give the home side an unlikely win and just four days later it was Keith Gillespie’s turn to put the ball in his own net, providing Iceland with a 2-1 victory despite being under pressure for the majority of the game.

An excellent draw against Sweden and a victory over Denmark in a rain swept Windsor Park were to follow, however the damage had already been done and it was too much to expect for a victory against Spain away, Sweden to drop points and the tie breaker to fall in our favour. In the end we finished six points behind the Swedes, which indicates how crucial those two lost games in September were.  

Looking at the remaining fixtures list for this campaign, the month of September again looks to play a crucial part in our qualifying hopes, with an away trip to the Faroes on the cards followed by a home tie just three days later against our closest rival Hungary.

It is difficult not to look at the permutations of possible results and while we obviously want to go and win every game, a defeat against Romania in June may not spell gloom, even if it is combined with a Hungary win away to Finland.

That would leave Pál Dárdai’s side one point behind us, however it is the next two games that could be the most significant to Northern Ireland.

A win over the Faroes would put the pressure on Hungary to take all three points against Romania on the same evening, as nothing less will mean that a win for Michael O’Neill’s men on Monday the 7^th September 2015 will see us on our way to France. The scenario being that a win over the Faroes and a point for Hungary will see us going into that Monday three points ahead. A win will send us clear by six points with two games remaining, meaning that the best Hungary could hope for is to draw level with us.

That of course would not be enough for them, as the tie break rules state that if two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the higher number of points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question will be used to separate them.

And could there be a more prefect date for that scenario to unfold and seal our passage to France, with it being ten years to the day that a certain Sir David Healy blasted the ball into the Windsor net to secure one of our most famous victories ever against England?

#Daretodream……it really is hard not to!

Our Wee Country's biggest game in years?

For many ardent Northern Ireland supporters Sunday 29^th March is a date that cannot come around soon enough, with the next six weeks likely to feature a number of sleepless nights as the permutations of the potential results of that evening play out in many a mind.

An unbelievable start to their European Championship Qualifying campaign saw Michael O’Neill’s side take maximum points from their opening three games, recording famous away victories against Greece and Hungary along the way. In their final game of 2014 the 100% start was unfortunately undone with Papp scoring two goals late on as Romania overtook the Ulstermen and went into the break top of the pile.

The Group F table however continues to make pleasant reading for the Green and White Army, with Northern Ireland sitting in second place; two points ahead of nearest rivals Hungary and five head of fourth placed Finland. This becomes even more captivating when one considers that under Michel Platini’s new European Championship structure the group winners, runners-up, and the best third-placed team (with the results against the sixth-placed team discarded) directly qualify to the finals, while the eight remaining third-placed teams contest two-legged play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers for the finals.

So what are the implications of the game in March against Finland that many are tagging as our most important in years?

Without a doubt teams do not generally qualify midway through a campaign, so a win does not mean we should start planning for a trip to France in 2016 just yet. Likewise a defeat will not see our dreams and aspirations of reliving those famous times of 1958, 1982 & 1986 put to bed yet again. However, the following points should provide some interesting food for thought.

•  If we do manage to pull off another famous Windsor victory and beat Finland we will go eight points ahead of the team we drew 3-3 against in Michael O’Neill’s third game in charge back in 2012. Such a gap will effectively rule Mixu Paatelainen’s side out of finishing ahead of us, with them then needing to win three of their last five games, with us picking up no more points in our remaining five games; three of which are at home and two away to the Faroes Islands and Finland. On the flip side however, if the unthinkable happens and we lose the Fins will be right on our tails and only two points behind.

•  On the same evening Hungary take on a Greek side whose disastrous start of three defeats and a draw led to the sacking of Claudio Ranieri. With both sides now under the guidance of new managers it will be hard to call the victor of this fixture, however from an Our Wee Country perspective a draw would be perfect if combined with a victory for us over the Fins. This would send O’Neill’s men four points clear in second place and ten ahead of the Greeks, with four games to play.

• In the final game that evening a win for Romania at home against the Faroes will bring Lars Olsen’s faint hopes of qualification to an end, while a draw or victory for the men from the North Atlantic would turn the fantasy thoughts of Northern Ireland topping the group come October into a potential reality.

In typical Northern Ireland fashion we will no doubt have a number of ups and downs between now and the climax of the campaign, but let us hope that influential players such as Davis, Hughes, McAuley & Lafferty grasp the opportunity of playing in a major finals that has alluded so many of their predecessors with both hands and lead the GAWA onto what will be undoubtedly a journey to be remembered for generations.

Tickets for the Finland game are already sold old, albeit with a reduced capacity due to the ongoing re-development of Windsor, so let us hope that the fans do what they do best and produce an atmosphere that spurs the players on, such as that when England came to town in 2005.