Euro 2016: Poland vs. Northern Ireland

“This team is very experienced and we know that this was just only the first match”, he said.

Yes, Poland dominated the game but Northern Ireland are used to that happening and I could tell from listening to their captain Steven Davis talk after the final whistle that he also felt they should have done better with the ball at certain times.

Northern Ireland were making their first appearance at a major tournament for 30 years.

Jakub Blaszczykowski cut in off the right before slipping an inside ball to the onrushing Milik, who only needed one touch before poking the ball through Craig Cathcart’s legs and past stopper Michael McGovern. We lacked a lot of that and have come away with no points.

Poland co-hosted the Euro 2012 tournament in Warsaw together with Ukraine.

Centre-backs Gareth McAuley and Jonny Evans in particular were tasked with keeping Poland and Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski at bay, and it worked to good effect for the opening period, at least.

Poland’s Bartosz Kapustka (C) in action against Conor McLaughlin (R) of Northern Ireland during the Euro 2016 Group C match between Poland and Northern Ireland on Sunday, June 12, 2016 at Allianz Riviera in Nice, France.

“We always knew it would be hard but we weren’t good enough”.

Northern Ireland fans have been paying their respects at the promenade in Nice where it is believed Darren Rodgers fell.

As expected, the Poles went on the attack right from the start, but for the first half-hour they seemed not to know quite what to make of their opponents – a bit like a bulldog puzzled by a barking Chihuahua’s refusal to step to one side.

For all of Poland’s possession – and in the first half it was 68% – they did not batter Northern Ireland and it took them until the 29th minute to force Michael McGovern into a save.

“It seemed to me that we were a little overawed by the occasion”.

But while Northern Ireland did improve as an attacking force after they switched to a 4-4-2 shape to try and get back on terms, they rarely threatened to equalise after mustering just two attempts on goal.

It is a match one suspects they must not lose, with their only other remaining fixture coming five days later when they tackle world champions Germany. But they don’t have a star on Lewandowski’s level, and their defenders don’t match up with him well either.