Northern Ireland boss sums up the mood perfectly after World Cup qualifying defeat to Germany

Northern Ireland went down 3-1 to the Germans in their second Group A game

Michael O’Neill summed up the feeling perfectly following Northern Ireland’s World Cup qualifying defeat to Germany as proud but disappointed.

O’Neill had hoped his young side could inflict more pain on the Germans after their opening Group A loss to Slovakia on Thursday night, but it was the hosts who struck inside seven minutes in Cologne.

But rather than lie down the visitors gathered themselves and deservedly drew level on 34 minutes thanks to Isaac Price’s 10th international goal.

Northern Ireland continued to frustrate Germany after the break and it took substitute Nadiem Amiri to unlock them again on 69 minutes before a sublime free-kick from Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz rubbed further salt into the wound.

“We’re very proud of the display but there’s a sense of disappointment, which is understandable,” said O’Neill.

“Look, this is a really tough game, second game in a short space of time. We just don’t have the depth to cope in this situation.

“For 60 or 65 minutes we were well in the game. The second goal is a bit of a freak goal, we could have defended it better. The third goal isn’t a free-kick. It’s a fantastic finish but it’s a soft free-kick.

“I thought the referee was a bit fussy in the second half. He refereed it well in the first. We were well in the game and needed to get to that final 15 minutes and we might have had a final chance, but the game drifted away from us.”

With three points out of six in their two opening qualifiers away from home O’Neill is hoping his side can bounce back in Belfast next month.

Slovakia and Germany will visit Windsor Park in back-to-back games in October and O’Neill knows two positive results will put them back in contention once again.

O’Neill said: “Of course, they are two World Cup games away from home, and to come here and play a German team, who maybe aren’t in their best moment, but we’re bringing 20-year-olds and a 19-year-old off the bench. We have to be realistic about where we are.

“It’s tough to play two games away from home. We got what we hoped for, but we’re a bit disappointed. It’s not a little bit more, but we have to be ready to play back to back at home and we know two good results will put us in a good position.”