"It's difficult to win away in international football and that is something this team still has to develop, but I take a lot of encouragement from the performances in Cologne and Slovakia where we were challenged and were missing key players in those games. We still gave a really good account of ourselves and were in the game in Germany for 70, 75 minutes."
"We have to make the game as difficult as possible for Italy and it will be difficult for them with the expectation they carry into the game. If we can add to that with how we play the game and the level of our performance, then who knows. We have an opportunity to go to a World Cup and we have to do everything possible to try to take it. What I will say to them is 'don't waste the opportunity'."
Northern Ireland must win two play-off matches to reach the 2026 World Cup, travelling to Italy on 26 March before facing either Wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina five days later. Italy last qualified in 2014; Northern Ireland last appeared at a World Cup in 1986. Manager Michael O'Neill emphasises that the young squad can rise to the challenge and must not waste the opportunity. Away defeats to Germany and Slovakia revealed areas for development, but encouraging performances in Cologne and Slovakia came despite missing key players. The immediate objective is to make the game difficult for Italy and maximise performance levels.
Read at www.bbc.com
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