Group C Ukraine Vs Northern Ireland Match Preview
Northern Ireland face Ukraine in Lyon on Thursday with both sides needing a win to keep their Euro 2016 knockout stage dreams alive while the Irish are mourning the death of a young fan
Irish fans plan a round of applause at the Stade de Lyon in the 24th-minute of the Group C clash to pay their respects to Darren Rodgers. The 24-year-old from Ballymena died in the early hours of Monday morning in Nice after falling from a restaurant balcony after his team's 1-0 defeat to Poland.
Having seen their 12-match unbeaten run ended by Poland, Northern Ireland defender Jonny Evans says his side must be bold against Ukraine
Ukraine also arrive in Lyon on the back of a defeat after going down 2-0 to Germany
Ukraine have never lost to yet to Northern Ireland, with two wins and two draws in previous meetings
Match Facts
Head-to-head
- Northern Ireland have never beaten Ukraine in four attempts (D2, L2).
- Ukraine did the double over Northern Ireland in qualifying for the 1998 World Cup.
- Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill came off the bench in the 1-0 defeat in Belfast.
- Current Ukraine assistant coach Andriy Shevchenko scored in their 2-1 win in Kiev.
- Ukraine are playing at their second European Championship. They co-hosted Euro 2012 and qualified this time round via a play-off success against Slovenia. It was their first play-off win at the sixth attempt.
- They had 12 corners against Germany - only Spain, with 14, won more in the opening round of fixtures.
- Defeat against Germany ended Ukraine's six-game unbeaten run, which included five wins.
- Thirteen goals have been scored in Ukraine's last three fixtures.
- Northern Ireland are competing at their first European Championship. They have not played at a major final tournament since bowing out of the 1986 World Cup at the group stage.
- Their record breaking 12-game unbeaten run came to an end against Poland (W6, D6).
- Their previous defeat was a 1-0 friendly defeat to Scotland in March 2015. That was also the last time they suffered back-to-back losses.
- Michael O'Neill's men have conceded only once in four games - Arkadiusz Milik's goal for Poland last time out.
Northern Ireland Shock Ukraine 2-0 thanks to goals from Gareth McAuley and Niall McGinn to keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockout phase at Euro 2016.
A flying header from veteran West Bromwich Albion defender McAuley and McGinn's injury-time strike at a hailstone-battered Stade de Lyon gave Ireland their first ever goals at a European championships finals.
Having recovered after losing their Euro 2016 opener 1-0 to Poland, Michael O'Neill's Irish now have everything to play for against world champions Germany in their final group game on Tuesday June 21,2016
Northern Ireland's Gareth McAuley also wrote himself into the history books.
At 36 years and 194 days, he is the second oldest goalscorer at a Euro finals, after Ivica Vastic, who was two years, 63 days older when he converted a penalty for Austria against Poland at Euro 2008.
Ukraine lost its opener against Germany 2-0 and must now beat Poland in Marseille next Tuesday June 21,2016, and hope Northern Ireland lose heavily to Germany, to have any chance of progressing.
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