'rock Bottom' To Euro 2016 - How Luxembourg Lesson Pushed Ni Towards History

Fifa World Cup qualifier: Luxembourg v Northern Ireland

Venue: Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg Date: Thursday, 4 September Kick-off: 19:45 BST

Coverage: Watch unrecorded connected BBC Two NI, BBC Three, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

"Sometimes erstwhile you deed stone bottom, there's only 1 spot to spell and that's to travel backmost from it."

If ever location was a lawsuit of 1 measurement forward, 2 steps back.

When Northern Ireland travelled to Luxembourg successful September of 2013, they did truthful pinch Michael O'Neill's first spell successful complaint of nan broadside seemingly gathering immoderate belated momentum.

A period prior, nan caller head enjoyed a first triumph astatine nan 10th clip of asking pinch a 1-0 triumph complete Fabio Capello's Russia astatine Windsor Park.

Then, conscionable 4 days earlier their ill-fated travel to occidental Europe, they had led Portugal successful Belfast pinch conscionable complete 20 minutes remaining only to beryllium undone by a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick.

There was little, therefore, to propose they were astir to travel unstuck against a broadside who had not won a World Cup qualifier connected location since 1972.

Who would person thought BBC Sport NI would soon beryllium talking astir "a caller low" for nan side?

While Northern Ireland's skipper connected nan night, and their astir capped subordinate of all-time, Steven Davis remembers a capacity wherever "not very overmuch of it was good", nan likelihood of an improbable upset had lengthened further erstwhile Martin Paterson fired nan visitors into a 14th-minute lead.

Aurelien Joachim cancelled retired that extremity earlier half-time nevertheless and Stefano Bensi put nan side, who had antecedently won only 4 World Cup qualifiers, into a daze lead.

Gareth McAuley appeared to salvage a face-saving tie pinch a precocious header, but Mathias Janisch struck 3 minutes from clip to time off O'Neill reflecting connected an "unacceptable" performance.

The head went connected to telephone his side's crippled guidance "pathetic", while section newspapers were moreover little kind, labelling nan consequence against nan part-timers classed 140th successful nan world arsenic nan worst successful nan country's history.

And yet, 9 of O'Neill's starting eleven that night, on pinch 5 members of his bench, were a portion of nan 23-man squad erstwhile Northern Ireland headed to Euro 2016 little than 3 years later.

"Sometimes erstwhile you deed stone bottom, there's only 1 spot to spell and that's to travel backmost from it," said McAuley erstwhile asked astir nan melodramatic turnaround.

Even if hindsight shows really rash a determination it would person been, location were questions complete O'Neill's early aft nan result.

McAuley, whose extremity against Ukraine successful Lyon later gave Northern Ireland their first ever triumph astatine a European Championships, says specified doubts ne'er permeated into nan elder playing group.

"It's 1 of them things, location was astir apt a existent transitional stage. There was nan aged defender and past location was caller players coming successful and Michael was coming in," said nan erstwhile West Bromwich Albion centre-back.

"It's difficult really for an world head erstwhile you deliberation of really galore existent training sessions you get, building relationships pinch players, getting your points across. These things do return time.

"But Michael had a measurement that he wanted to do things, and we could spot that, we were down it. It conscionable sewage there, it conscionable clicked. There were truthful galore factors astir it, but nan belief that we had successful what we were being asked to do was what really galvanised america to move that forward."

There was surely nary contiguous uptick successful fortunes. Northern Ireland did not triumph immoderate of their adjacent six fixtures which included a conclusion by Azerbaijan and a tie pinch Cyprus.

Davis, though, thinks nan lessons learned were instrumental successful nan feats that followed.

"It was a disappointing result, a disappointing nighttime for us, but I deliberation we learnt a batch from it," said Davis.

"In nan aftermath evidently astatine nan clip a batch of emotions were moving high, but erstwhile you measurement distant from it, I deliberation we became overmuch amended astatine dealing pinch these fixtures."

By nan clip nan adjacent qualifying run rolled around, Northern Ireland sewage disconnected to a flier pinch a 2-1 triumph distant to Hungary and did not look back.

Few of nan 1,200 fans successful Luxembourg would person believed it connected that chastening nighttime but 5 much wins, 3 draws and conscionable 1 conclusion later, Michael O'Neill had guided nan broadside to their first awesome tourney successful 3 decades.

"I deliberation it was very overmuch getting disconnected to a bully commencement successful nan group, past that gives you nan belief and it each originates to snowball," says erstwhile Aston Villa midfielder Davis of nan accelerated reversal.

"Momentum successful shot is massive. I deliberation that was really important for america arsenic a group.

"We conscionable had a existent mentality to spell and effort and execute something."

Northern Ireland are backmost successful Luxembourg connected Thursday nighttime for what will beryllium a 5th gathering betwixt nan sides since that infamous nighttime 12 years ago. The erstwhile 4 person yielded 3 wins and a draw.

The playing squad for what will people nan commencement of nan side's 2026 World Cup qualifying run shows nary survivors from nan 2013 defeat, while Luxembourg are a vastly different proposition too.

The broadside are now immoderate 42 places higher successful nan Fifa world rankings than they were going into that 3-2 victory, while Northern Ireland's astir caller visit, a Nations League fixture successful November, vanished successful a 2-2 draw.

After 5 wins and 3 draws from 10 Euro 2024 qualifiers, and a friends triumph complete Sweden arsenic precocious arsenic March, Luxembourg's days being viewed arsenic Europe's pushovers are nary more.

"Luxembourg person developed a batch successful nan past number of years," said O'Neill.

"They've sewage a number of players who play their nine shot astatine a bully level successful bully leagues successful Europe, truthful it's a reliable game."

Complacency here, arsenic O'Neill knows each excessively well, would surely beryllium misplaced.