After an impressive summer at the Euros in France, Northern Ireland began their bid for World Cup qualification with a typically battling draw against Czech Republic.
Michael O’Neill’s side spent much of the evening defending but centre-backs Jonny Evans and Gareth McAuley manfully ensured the hosts would not break through.
The point gained represents a solid start for Northern Ireland, with world champions Germany having dispatched Norway 3-0 in Oslo while Azerbaijan defeated San Marino in the other Group C clashes.
Afterwards O’Neill hailed the efforts of his defensive duo in particular.
“The two centre-backs were magnificent and [Oliver] Norwood in front of them was magnificent as well,” O’Neill told Sky Sports.
“It’s a good result to come here and take a point. First half we were very good and we knew we’d be a threat on the counter attack, but could have been better in terms of our final ball.”
While he could not have asked for more effort from his men, O’Neill conceded it remains a slight worry for him that many of his squad are not getting regular first-team football at their respective clubs.
As the game in Prague came towards a conclusion, it was clear that some of the Northern Ireland players were effectively running on empty tanks.
“We set our team up according to the opposition, you saw the energy and work rate tonight.
That makes my job easy,” O’Neill added. “However, it would be easier for me if we had more players playing on a regular basis, at the highest level possible.” Northern Ireland are 41.00 to win Group C outright.
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