Pride and belief bedrock of Northern Ireland’s unexpected odyssey

When the Northern Ireland players arrived at their chateau of a hotel in the lush Beaujolais countryside north of Lyon at the start of this week, they entered their rooms to be met with family photographs, personalised towels and a chart of their qualifying group, which Northern Ireland topped.

Beside each chart was a picture of the player who had just entered the room. It was about showing each and every one that he had contributed.

Manager Michael O’Neill then decided to have a communal dinner on Tuesday night, but not just for the players. O’Neill brought along the support staff and logistic people who are staying in another hotel a few miles away.

There is an inclusivity and intelligence behind O’Neill’s methods and the result is a strong squad collective and a family ethos. “What a journey this has been,” he says.

In Northern Ireland's case that is no cliché. When O'Neill's players walk out to face Poland in Nice tomorrow, it will be 30 years to the day since their last appearance in a major tournament. That was the 1986 World Cup, the day Brazil went beyond the pale Irish as they wilted in the heat of Mexico and Pat Jennings earned his 119th and final cap.

Thirty years of mediocrity and sometimes pain, lifted by the odd gem such as David Healy's hat-trick against Spain in 2006 have followed. O'Neill is the sixth successor to Billy Bingham and has at last matched some of Bingham's success.

Bingham was a manager focused on teamwork and O’Neill is the same. “The team, working together and covering for each other, is the important unit,” he says, adding: “Just look at Leicester.”

O’Neill’s side, strong in shape and football identity, meet the Poles on the back of a 12-game unbeaten Irish run but the last thing the manager would be is complacent. Between the 46-year-old from Ballymena and his Scottish assistant Austin MacPhee, all 10 of Poland’s qualifiers have been re-watched and examined. The same with Ukraine and Germany.

As O’Neill says: “Make no mistake, this has not been a matter of luck or fate, this has been an achievement of monumental proportions for a group of exceptional players who have worked diligently and with purpose to achieve what most people would have considered the impossible.

“I am proud to have been part of this. I am proud that we have been able by qualifying to have played a positive role in making Northern Ireland a better place.”

However, while Northern Ireland’s odds might not be of Leicester City’s scale, they were 500/1 rank outsiders along with Albania when the squad flew from George Best airport almost a fortnight ago.

Positivity needs to be placed in context – it must be remembered throughout that Northern Ireland’s principal achievement is to be here.

O'Neill may have forged unity and coherence – and a swift-passing attacking style that has gone under the radar – but an individual of the calibre of Robert Lewandowski can unravel any joined-up thinking.

Fraught task

Frustrating Lewandowski – or Ukraine's Andriy Yarmolenko or Germany's Thomas Muller – is a fraught task, one that will fall on a likely three-man defence of Craig Cathcart, Gareth McAuley and Jonny Evans.

These are three of four Premier League regulars in the Irish squad – captain Steven Davis is the other – and they must perform to a high standard if Northern Ireland are to gain a foothold in a hazardous group.

As Evans notes, any one of the three could find himself one-on-one with Lewandowski in this system and that would be nervy.

“He’s got everything you’d want in a centre forward,” Evans says of Lewandowski, who has 48 goals this season for club and country. “We’ve watched quite a few clips already.”

Sitting midfielders may play a part in trying to cramp space for Lewandowski and his partner Arkadiusz Milik. One of those under consideration for such a role is Evans’ younger brother Corry.

Jonny (28) made his Irish debut – aged 18 at left back marking Fernando Torres – in that Healy-Spain game. Corry (25) made his three years later in Italy when he too was 18 – “There’s a picture where I’m getting smashed by [Gennaro] Gattuso.”

The Evans boys were both Manchester United players and offer O'Neill's symbolic band of brothers a real pair of them. As together they talk through their international careers, the Evans speak with humility and sense about this journey which has led to an unforeseen presence in France.

“When you represent your country, you’re proud,” Corry reflects, “but there were times going away when we didn’t have the belief that we could win. We found it quite hard to get consistency. Right up until Michael’s first qualifying campaign, we didn’t have a great record. Obviously that’s changed.”

Jonny agrees: “I did feel the highs and then the lows and it did have a big effect on me.

“Personally, I’d a low getting sent off in Azerbaijan, losing my head. In the last couple of years Michael has made a big change in terms of professionalism, the standards have gone up and he asks for all the lads can give. That’s definitely made it more enjoyable.

North Belfast

“Me and Corry have spoken about this – it makes such a difference that we’re going away and not just to waste time, you’re going to try to achieve something.”

Going away. It was August 2003 when Jackie and Dawn Evans decided to leave north Belfast for Manchester. Jackie had been at Chelsea for 2½ years as a teenage full back in the early 1980s and then returned home to play for Crusaders in the Irish League. He was working in Bombardier when he and Dawn made the leap.

Jackie Evans knew the perils of professional football but both his sons were wanted by United. Dawn was one of eight siblings and Jonny and Corry have a younger sister, Katie.

This is the unseen human story behind the football but just as they prepare for Euro 2016, the "sacrifices" made by their family are on the minds of Jonny, now at West Brom, and Corry at Blackburn Rovers.

“I don’t think you appreciate what they went through,” Jonny says of his parents, “because we’re not privy to their conversations at night, when the kids are in bed and they’re having serious conversations. You know: ‘Is this the right decision?’

“I think we’ll always be indebted to them because they sacrificed their lives really, especially our mum. She had loads of friends and family back home and you’re moving away to a different country and not knowing anyone.”

Not unique

Brothers at Euro 2016 are not unique – there are four sets – but Jonny and Corry Evans can imagine their parents' pride in Nice on Sunday.

It is a sensation that Michael O’Neill has stirred. Northern Ireland lost 3-2 in Luxembourg less than three years ago. Now they are in the European Championships finals for the first time in their history and some 15,000 supporters are travelling.

“This is our time,” O’Neill says. “Let’s not have any regrets and let us pull together. In doing that we will make the fans and the country proud.”