Exposing players to 'higher level' key for NI

Yahoo

14 hours ago

International Friendly: Denmark v Northern Ireland
Venue: Parken Stadium, Copenhagen Date: Saturday, 7 June Kick-off: 18:00 BST
Coverage: Watch live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Two NI; listen on BBC Sounds and follow live text commentary & in-play clips on the BBC Sport website
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Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill says Saturday's friendly against Denmark is about exposing his young squad to a higher level of opposition before the start of the World Cup qualifiers in September.
Northern Ireland face the Danes in Copenhagen at 18:00 BST and then host Iceland at Windsor Park on Tuesday with a 19:45 kick-off.
O'Neill's side have lost just three of their past 13 internationals in recent years and gained promotion to League B in the Nations League but the NI boss knows the prospect of facing Denmark represents a step up in class.
Northern Ireland will face Germany, Slovakia and Luxembourg in their World Cup qualifying group in the autumn.
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"Denmark are a tough team, a pot one team," said O'Neill after guiding his squad through a training camp in Marbella ahead of the double-header.
"We open in September away to Luxembourg and then we're away to Germany, so it's about exposure for the players, exposure to the levels of international football, and stepping up that exposure from what we faced in the Nations League to what we're going to face coming into the World Cup."
O'Neill's charges lost 1-0 to Denmark in Euro 2024 qualifying in June 2023 but exacted revenge with a 2-0 win over the Danes in Belfast five months later.
Denmark head coach Brian Riemer took up the reins of the team in October last year and the team have won only one of their past six matches.
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"We're away from home, the onus will be on them. They have a new coach who is only four games in. That'll be something they will be adapting to, a slightly different style of play - quite aggressive with how they want to press the game, so we have to deal with that," said O'Neill.
"When we beat them at home we scored two great goals on the counter-attack and we'll have to play again on that basis.
"It's a test. This is a very young squad. We have 50% of the squad that are 21 and under, and some of the players who are a little older than that are just starting out on their international journey as well."
Isaac Price was on target in Northern Ireland's 2-0 win over Denmark in November 2023 [Getty Images]
'Instilling belief into the group'
O'Neill believes his players should go into games against high calibre opposition with confidence.
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"They will see the game at the highest level of international football but we have to go there with the belief that we can get a result.
"That's what we have to instil in the group of players as we come into a World Cup qualifying with six games where there's not a lot of room for error, certainly when you have a team like Germany who typically dominate their group.
"We have to get across the belief to the players that those are the sort of games we can get something from."
O'Neill explained that June fixtures were the "most challenging" on the international calendar with some members of the squad having finished their seasons in early May and others a lot more recently.
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"The players were all at different stages in the first two days but we're pleased with the work that they've done.
"We didn't have any withdrawals from the initial squad that we named so we're in decent shape bar one or two little niggles that we've had to manage.
"The key is to get as much as we can out of the two games."