Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill says he would swap his upcoming personal landmark for World Cup qualifying points “in a heartbeat”.
O’Neill will take charge of his 99th and 100th games as Northern Ireland manager against Slovakia and Germany at Windsor Park over the next five days.
Hosting the four-time world champions – who won last month’s fixture 3-1 in Cologne – in Belfast will be a glamorous way to mark his century, but O’Neill insists he is only interested in results as his team push to reach next year’s finals.
“It’s a nice personal thing for me, but I haven’t given it too much thought,” O’Neill told BBC Newsline.
“The most important thing is the preparation of the team. It is difficult. I think if we can get the right result on Friday night then the mental frame of the team and how they’re feeling going into Monday can be very positive.
“There’s a lot of fatigue between the games. You have to recover but it’s a great game to be involved in. We gave a good account of ourselves, we were disappointed in Cologne that we didn’t come away with something so hopefully we can on Monday.”
source : viralpique.com
