Northern Ireland will be aiming to be party poopers when they take on France in a friendly later today.
That’s the promise from Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill as his players prepare to face star-studded opposition at the Decathlon Arena - Stade Pierre-Mauroy on the outskirts of Lille (8.10pm kick-off BST).
France are the number one ranked team in the world just now – and are among the favourites to lift the FIFA World Cup trophy in New Jersey next month.
The international challenge match in Lille is their final preparation match ahead of their first group game at this summer’s global tournament. That’s against Senegal on 16 June.
O’Neill knows the encounter will be a very different game to last Thursday’s friendly against Guinea, which Northern Ireland won 1-0 thanks to a Tom Atcheson goal.
Northern Ireland enjoyed plenty of possession in that match played in Spain, however the Northern Ireland boss feels his team will have to endure long spells without the ball in Lille.
He said it was nice to be invited to play France on their send-off to the global festival of football in Canada, Mexico and USA, however he told media yesterday: "We probably have to be a badly-behaved guest, really. That's what we have to aspire to do, in terms of if we can make the game difficult for France.”
O’Neill said the friendly will provide his players with an opportunity to measure themselves against world class opposition, both individually and collectively.
He further pointed out: "The most important thing is to see if your team are overawed by the situation. I think the hardest thing for any player as you step through the levels of the game is having the self-belief in yourself that you can deal with the game at this level, against players of this level, and that's what these games give us."
The Northern Ireland manager pointed out that the opportunity for those players who operate outside the Premier League to test themselves at the highest level of the game does not come around very often.
He noted: "It doesn't come through the domestic game, but they get the opportunity to show that they can do that (on the international stage). They get the chance to be able to demonstrate that they can play the game at the top level, they can handle the game at the top level. I think the only way to do that is to be exposed to it."
O’Neill also said Northern Ireland should be proud as a small nation that they are not an easy team to play against. “We pride ourselves very much on that,” he added.
The French squad is packed with players who ply their trade with the biggest clubs in world football.
Long-standing head coach Didier Deschamps has an embarrassment of riches in attack in particular, from Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe to Paris Saint Germain trio Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola.
Also among the forwards alongside Mbappe, who has 56 goals in 97 games for his country, are Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise, Inter Milan’s Marcus Thuram and Crystal Palace frontman Jean-Phillipe Mateta.
In the backline Aston Villa full-back Lucas Digne is the most capped player with 57, followed by Barcelona’s Jules Kounde (47 caps), Al-Hilal’s Theo Hernandez (43 caps) and PSG defender Lucas Hernandez (42 caps).
Other defenders at Deschamps’ disposal include Arsenal’s William Saliba, Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate, who has just exited Liverpool to join Real Madrid.
Former Chelsea and Leicester City star N’Golo Kante, who now plays for Turkish side Fenerbahce, is the most experienced player in the middle of the park (68 caps) along with AC Milan’s Adrien Rabiot (58 caps) and Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni (45 caps). Manchester City attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki is being tipped to star at the World Cup, however remarkably he only has six senior international caps under his belt so far.
