Trai Hume’s ‘heads held high’ message after Northern Ireland’s narrow defeat to Germany

Northern Ireland lost 1-0 to Germany in their World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park

Trai Hume urged his Northern Ireland teammates to keep their “heads held high” after they slipped to a narrow defeat at the hands of Germany.

Nick Woltemade’s scruffy 31st minute goal from David Raum’s corner proved the difference in the end.

And while Hume was disappointed to have conceded from a set-piece, he was pleased with the overall performance.

“We’re disappointed but we’ve got to keep our heads held high,” said the Sunderland man. “We worked hard and stuck at it and gave the Germans a good game and they are obviously a good side.

“I didn’t think there was much in the game, but they scored from a set-piece, which we’re disappointed about as that’s where we are strong.

“We came out for the second half with a bit more confidence and put a bit more pressure on them.

“I thought we were a bit passive in the first half but we got into the game more after the break but we should have started that way.

“The atmosphere is brilliant as always and we are just disappointed we couldn’t get points.”

Northern Ireland piled on the pressure in the dying minutes but they were left frustrated by referee Jesús Gil Manzano’s decision to penalise Josh Magennis at the death when it looked like the Exeter City striker was the one being fouled.

While Hume admitted some frustration with the decisions throughout the game, he said the hosts had to take care of their own jobs.

He said: “You can be a bit frustrated as international football can be a bit soft at times, but we can’t really make excuses, we conceded from a set piece which we know we shouldn’t have.”

Magennis was a half-time sub replacing Jamie Reid, and he felt the home side grew into the game.

“I thought the players gave everything and I thought first half we lacked a bit of belief with the ball, but we were in the game, we weren’t conceding many chances,” said the experienced frontman.

“The goal is a freak goal, it comes off the player’s shoulder and ends up in the net. We should have defended it better but we didn’t do it as well as we could have done.

“It was the type of game that we had to go ahead, obviously we took the lead, and it was disallowed for offside and, again, we could do better in that situation.”