Two strikers, neither of whom started this tournament as first choice for their side, told the tale. At one end, Conor Washington – whose well-told story had taken him from delivering post in Cornwall to leading the line in Paris – cut a very lonely figure.
At times he was so far away from his nine outfield team-mates, massed as they were behind the ball as they attempted to repel wave after wave of German attacks, that he could barely make out their green shirts against the Parc des Princes pitch. At other times the QPR striker retreated too, prompting Manuel Neuer to hover menacingly on the halfway line as Germany employed a sort of 2-0-8 formation and laid siege to the Northern Ireland goal.
By the time the former Newport and Peterborough striker left the pitch on the hour for Kyle Lafferty, he was utterly spent yet had barely touched the ball. Lafferty, such an important presence during Northern Ireland’s qualifying campaign, was to be similarly frustrated.
At the other end the towering Mario Gómez, introduced here as a more conventional centre-forward following mixed success for Germany with Mario Götze as a false nine, seemed to be the key that unlocked their attack. Where Mesut Özil, Thomas Müller and Julian Draxler had weaved pretty patterns to sometimes little effect in the opening two matches that had yielded four points but only two goals, Gómezgave them a focal point. Draxler made way and a much-improved Götze abandoned his previous role to join the supporting trio.
It worked. During a one-sided first half when the giddy excitement of the massed ranks of brilliantly boisterous Northern Ireland fans gave way to a sense of foreboding, Germany carved out chances at will. It was like a training exercise as the trio of supporting attackers buzzed like angry bees behind Gómez and the full-backs, Joshua Kimmich and Jonas Hector, joined in.
Had Roy Hodgson and his England players been watching back in Chantilly, here was an object lesson in how to pass your way round a parked bus. Northern Ireland had known it would be a case of rope-a-dope, trying to hang on grimly until they got the sniff of a chance. As Müller twice crashed the ball against the woodwork, Özil slipped just as he was about to put the ball in the net and Michael McGovern delivered a string of superlative saves it seemed that moment was ever less likely to come, especially when Gómez scored at the end of a smart move. It could easily have been 5-0 by half-time.
In the stands they still sang, still bounced, yet the idea that Germany’s defence was in any way terrified took on an even more grimly ironic air than the previous evening when Mats Hummels had suppressed a smirk at the prospect.
But as the score stayed at 1-0, against all odds and possession stats of 71% to 29%, Northern Ireland retained, as it turned out, more than a fighting chance of going through as one of the best third-placed finishers.
Gareth McAuley and Jonny Evans were superb, McGovern was outstanding from start to finish. They desperately yearned for one chance. It never came but still they held firm.
Back home the First Minister, Arlene Foster, had sanctioned a “go home early” day. The 15,000-plus inside the stadium more than did their bit, endlessly outsinging their counterparts, even after going behind. High in the posh seats Rory McIlroy sported a George Best T-shirt.
After the disappointing draw with Poland – and the criticism it provoked from the former captain Michael Ballack – Bastian Schweinsteiger, still the heartbeat of this squad even if reduced to a supporting role, posted a picture on Twitter. It featured him in shades wearing a jet-black baseball cap, next to Neuer, in an identical get-up. They stood in front of the matte black private plane, with Die Mannschaft 2016 painted down the side, in which they have been traversing France from their training base in Chambéry. They looked like a side about to go to work.
Despite that impressive opening hour, the frenzied urgency drained from the Germans and Joachim Löw, also natty in an all-black ensemble, began to look frustrated – especially with the news that Poland had gone 1-0 up against Ukraine. Germany top their group but nagging questions remain.
When he was asked what Brazil could learn from Northern Ireland, Michael O’Neill was briefly stumped before replying that they would keep going to the final whistle. They certainly did that, going down 1-0 against the world champions in a defeat that felt as close to a victory as any reverse can.
So did their brilliant fans who left the stadium as they entered. “Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na,” they sang to their silent German rivals, down but not quite yet out in Paris and Londonderry.
