"The full-time whistle at Windsor Park was met by jeers, which then turned to a loud round of applause. The jeers were for the match officials who left the field of play after adding only two minutes onto the end of 90 minutes. The cheers, which drowned out the jeers, were for a young Northern Ireland side who had given everything after putting Germany on the ropes in the closing stages of the 1-0 defeat in World Cup qualifying."
"I thought in the first half we lacked a bit of belief with the ball. Germany forced their physicality on top of us, and it was difficult for us to get any rhythm in the game. The disallowed goal would have helped us at that point, but it was offside. We shouldn't be offside in that situation so that's an error on our part."
"It comes off the player's shoulder and ends up in our net. That was the disappointing thing. But in the second half we were terrific. We just couldn't force an equaliser in the end. It was a game that was going to be decided by something special or a bit of a freak goal - which is ultimately how it was decided."
Kieran O'Neill took charge of his 100th game as Northern Ireland lost 1-0 to Germany at Windsor Park in World Cup qualifying. Germany's only goal came in the first half when a corner deflected off a player's shoulder into the net. Northern Ireland had a Dan Ballard effort ruled out for Paddy McNair's offside in the buildup and missed other chances, including one by Callum Marshall. Conor Bradley missed the match through suspension. Northern Ireland dominated the second half and pressured Germany but small margins and a freak goal decided the result.
Read at www.bbc.com
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