""Sometimes when you hit rock bottom, there's only one place to go and that's to come back from it." If ever there was a case of one step forward, two steps back. When Northern Ireland travelled to Luxembourg in September 2013, they did so with Michael O'Neill's first spell in charge of the side seemingly gathering some belated momentum. A month prior, the new manager enjoyed a first win at the 10th time of asking with a 1-0 victory over Fabio Capello's Russia at Windsor Park."
"There was little, therefore, to suggest they were about to come unstuck against a side who had not won a World Cup qualifier on home soil since 1972. Who would have thought BBC Sport NI would soon be talking about "a new low" for the side? Image source, Inpho While Northern Ireland's skipper on the night, and their most capped player of all time, Steven Davis remembers a performance where "not very much of it was good", the odds of an unlikely upset had lengthened further when Martin Paterson fired the visitors into a 14th-minute lead."
"Aurelien Joachim cancelled out that goal before half-time however and Stefano Bensi put Luxembourg, who had previously won only four World Cup qualifiers, into a shock lead. Gareth McAuley appeared to salvage a face-saving draw with a late header, but Mathias Janisch struck three minutes from time to leave O'Neill reflecting on an "unacceptable" performance. The manager went on to call his side's game management "pathetic", while local newspapers were even less kind, labelling th"
Northern Ireland travelled to Luxembourg in September 2013 under Michael O'Neill after a recent win over Russia and a narrow defeat to Portugal. Martin Paterson put Northern Ireland ahead in the 14th minute, but Aurelien Joachim equalised before half-time and Stefano Bensi gave Luxembourg an unexpected lead. Gareth McAuley appeared to rescue a draw with a late header, yet Mathias Janisch struck three minutes from time to secure a shock victory. O'Neill labelled the performance "unacceptable" and criticised the team's game management as "pathetic", while local media reacted harshly to the result. Luxembourg's win was notable given their scant World Cup qualifying successes.
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