NI have "got to get better" in possession
Northern Ireland's Isaac Price wants his side to "show more quality" on the ball against Iceland on Tuesday night than they managed in defeat by Denmark.
The visitors to Copenhagen defended well throughout the 2-1 reverse on Saturday but spent large passages of the friendly having to soak up pressure while the Danes dominated possession.
Advertisement
"We want to see more of the ball and show a little bit more quality when we have the ball," said the West Bromwich Albion midfielder.
"It's at home and I think all the team knows how well we do at home and it gives the team a little bit of an extra boost."
The 21-year-old has scored eight goals in 21 internationals but chances were few and far between for Michael O'Neill's side on Saturday after they took an early lead thanks to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's own goal.
The friendly against Iceland, who arrive in Belfast after beating Scotland at Hampden Park on Friday night, is Northern Ireland's last fixture before they begin their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign in September with trips to Luxembourg and Germany.
Advertisement
"I think when you work so hard off the ball, when you're chasing the game a lot, when you finally [get] the ball, you've got to be good enough to keep it," added Price.
"That's definitely something we've got to work on, especially when we know we're going into World Cup qualifiers where we're going to play top opposition like Germany.
"We've got to get better at keeping the ball and that'll be something we work on."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Motor Trend
5 hours ago
- Motor Trend
The Newest Nürburgring Lap Record Belongs to China
While the U.S. has pretty much banned Chinese-made cars by tariffing the value out of them, Chinese brands continue to prove they are a force to reckon with, now and if they ever come to our shores. The latest proof of that has just been set by the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, an all-electric sedan that just reset the lap record for electric sedans at the Nürburgring. It's a record that was once set by Germany's own Porsche in 2004. This isn't the first time the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra has set a record lap at the track known as 'the Green Hell.' In October of 2024, the stripped-down prototype went out and shattered the record for four-door vehicles by setting a 6:46.874 lap time. Of course, it wasn't a full production vehicle, but it still set that impressive lap on a partially wet track and even lost power for around 12 seconds during the run. Xiaomi did declare, however, that it would return to the Nürburgring with a production version of the SU7 Ultra and reset the production electric sedan record. April 1st would mark the day that Xiaomi would do it, but it would need to beat the official record of 7 minutes, 7.55 seconds—a record recently set by the 2025 Porsche Taycan Turbo GT with the Weissach package. The SU7 Ultra would also utilize track ready parts just as the Porsche did with a set of Bilstein Evo T1 coilovers, Endless high-performance brake pads for its carbon ceramic brake system, upgraded motor and battery cooling system, and high-performance tires. With Vincent Radermecker—former World Touring Car and British Touring Car driver—behind the wheel, the 1,527-hp triple-motor sedan crossed the line in 7:04.957 and stole the production EV sedan record. To put this time in further perspective, the SU7 Ultra starts at $73,724 (when converting from 529,900 Chinese Yuan, at the time of writing) and set a time faster than the Rimac Nevera. The Nevera is an all-electric hypercar that starts at $2.2 million with four motors outputting 1,888 hp and it was beat by 0.341of a second (a time of 7:05.298 for its official production car record) by a sedan that can have a fridge equipped inside the center console (there is no word if the record setter was chilling some drinks during the run). The SU7 Ultra also hit a top speed of 214.994 mph racing down the Döttinger Höhe straight. It's safe to say that Xiaomi has helped put the world on further notice that the Chinese OEMs are not slacking around—and why Ford's Jim Farley loves his Xiaomi.
New York Times
6 hours ago
- New York Times
Liverpool's Jarell Quansah on Bayer Leverkusen's list of centre-back targets
Bayer Leverkusen are considering a move for Liverpool's Jarell Quansah as part of their squad rebuild this summer. The German club, who are already negotiating with Liverpool for the record-breaking sale of Florian Wirtz, have added Quansah to a list of centre-back targets following the exit of Jonathan Tah to Bayern Munich. Mario Hermoso has also left after his loan spell from Roma, while Odilon Kossounou is not expected to return following his season-long loan at Atalanta, which included a purchase option. Advertisement Any pursuit for Quansah, who is valued in excess of £40million ($54.2m), would be separate from the Wirtz deal. Liverpool and Leverkusen are in the final stages of negotiating a deal for Wirtz to join the Premier League side. Quansah enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2023-24 but struggled for game time in the most recent campaign. Liverpool rate him highly and have not been looking to sell this summer, although the interest from Leverkusen may force them into a rethink. Newcastle United have previously expressed interest in Quansah and had an approach for the 22-year-old rebuffed a year ago, before turning their attention to fellow Liverpool defender Joe Gomez, who they also did not end up signing. Quansah was born in nearby Warrington and is one of the stand-out graduates from the club's academy in recent years. Towards the back end of the 2023-24 season, he dislodged Ibrahima Konate and was a regular in the side alongside Virgil van Dijk. Quansah started the first game of the 2024-25 season under Arne Slot at Ipswich Town but was replaced by Konate at half time and had to watch most of the campaign from the sidelines. Although he made 25 appearances in all competitions, only five of those were starts in the Premier League, and his aim next season is to play more often. Quansah was called into Thomas Tuchel's first England squad in April but did not feature, nor was he named in the selection for the June internationals.
Associated Press
13 hours ago
- Associated Press
Bayer Leverkusen signs promising young defender Axel Tape from PSG
LEVERKUSEN, Germany (AP) — Bayer Leverkusen has signed France youth international Axel Tape on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain's under-19 team. The 17-year-old Tape, a tall defender, signed a 'long-term' contract with Leverkusen, the Bundesliga club said Wednesday. 'Tape is a versatile defensive player, a good footballer with pace, athleticism, and well-developed game-intelligence,' Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes said. 'We see great potential in Axel, and signing him on a free transfer is an important building block in our future-oriented squad planning.' Tape helped PSG's under-19 team win the French championship last weekend. He made three appearances for the senior team. He was reportedly also a target for Eintracht Frankfurt and Tottenham Hotspur. Tape is the second promising young player Leverkusen has signed this offseason after the 19-year-old Ibrahim Maza from Hertha Berlin. The club is undergoing a shakeup of the squad following coach Xabi Alonso's departure to Real Madrid. Team captain Johnathan Tah did not renew his contract and joined league rival Bayern Munich, and wing-back Jeremie Frimpong switched to Liverpool. Star player Florian Wirtz is expected to complete a record-breaking transfer to Liverpool in the coming days. The club appointed former Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag as Alonso's replacement, and last week signed Netherlands goalkeeper Mark Flekken from Brentford. Leverkusen also signed 21-year-old defender Tim Oermann from relegated Bochum and promptly loaned him to Austrian champion Sturm Graz. Promising midfielder Francis Onyeka went in the other direction to Bochum on loan for next season. ___ AP soccer:
