Michael O’Neill believes his players will come up against strong opponents when they take on Guinea later today.
Northern Ireland and the west Africans are set to face each other in a friendly at Estadio Ciudad de La Línea in the Cadiz region of Spain (5pm kick-off BST), just a stone’s throw from Gibraltar.
It will be the first time that Northern Ireland have faced opposition from the western part of the African continent. Their previous encounters against teams from Africa saw them come up against northern teams Algeria and Morocco (twice) as well as South Africa.
The Northern Ireland manager is not expecting the Guineans to be pushovers.
O’Neill pointed out that several of the Guinea players came through the youth ranks at clubs in France and now play their club football for sides across Europe and beyond.
He believes it will be “a tough enough test against an athletic team”, adding that their head coach, Paulo Duarte, has improved Guinea’s results since taking over last August. Duarte, who hails from Portugal, is no stranger to African football as he previously managed Burkina Faso (twice), Gabon and Togo.
The Northern Ireland boss also hinted that he may give game time to players who have not featured much on the international stage before.
Today’s game is part one of a double header of international challenge matches this month. Next up for O’Neill’s team is a friendly away to World Cup-bound France on Monday (8 June). The venue for the game against the team currently ranked number one in the world is the Decathlon Arena - Stade Pierre-Mauroy on the outskirts of Lille (8.10pm start BST).
Guinea currently sit in 81st position in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Rankings compared to Northern Ireland in 70th place.
Algeria comfortably qualified from Guinea’s group for this summer’s World Cup, however Guinea drew 0-0 with the Algerians back in the autumn and also picked up other decent results in Group G of the African qualifiers. They won four and drew three of their 10 qualifiers.
Since October, when the Group G games ended, the Guineans have had four friendlies against African opposition, winning one, drawing two and narrowly losing one.
Their star man, Borussia Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy, has not been included in their squad for today’s game. The 30-year-old has scored 11 goals in 28 international appearances.
Instead the dangerman will likely be Yakhouba Barry, who has scored seven goals in 25 games for his country. He plays his club football with Horoya AC in his homeland.
Barry could be joined up front by exciting 19-year-old attacker Abdoul Traore of OH Leuven in Belgium. Traore has scored three goals in his three senior international outings to date.
Duarte has sprinkled his squad with younger players. More than half of his 23-strong panel are aged 22 or under.
His engine room is where experienced operators can be found. Two of his midfielders, Seydouba Cisse (25) and Amadou Diawara (28), play for Leganes in the Spanish second division. They have 27 and 43 caps respectively.
The most experienced player in terms of caps is 27-year-old Morlaye Sylla. Now playing his club football in Saudi Arabia with Damac, Sylla previously starred in Portugal’s Primeira Liga for Arouca. The midfielder has scored eight times for Guinea in 44 appearances.
Most of the Guinea squad play their club football in Europe, mainly in Spain, Belgium and France.
The game will be live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website. And you can listen on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Sounds. Follow all the updates on @Northern Ireland social channels.
