Right, I’m off. Don’t go anywhere, though – Germany are about to get their tournament under way, against Ukraine, and Michael Butler is on minute-by-minute duties:
I’ll be back tomorrow for some more fun and frolics. Until then, bye!
Kyle Lafferty has spoken to the BBC:
We knew it was going to be tough. I’m not going to blame anyone else. The whole performance wasn’t a Northern Ireland performance. I think on Thursday we’ll put it right and go into the final game against Germany fighting for something. Unfortunately we didn’t turn up today. Michael will get hold of us, he’ll speak the truth and we’ll take note of it.
From today’s first game, this is surely the Vine of the day:
Gary Lineker has just reported on the meaning of Kapustka’s name on Match of the Day.
@Simon_Burnton Why are we so shocked to find Kapustka means lil cabbage? Do the Poles know about COOK, BUTLER, Wayne Wanklin or Steve Death?
— Ron Mukerji (@Englodysiac) June 12, 2016
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Steven Davis, Northern Ireland’s captain, has given a brief interview:
It was a difficult evening for us. I think we need to be braver, need to be better on the ball. We need to do better than that to get anything from the group. We need to learn from it. We dug in deep today, gave our all but it wasn’t good enough in the end. We defended decently but we needed to be better on the ball and create some chances for ourselves.
@Simon_Burnton why is it good to make fun of people's names? :)
— Aggie Niescierowicz (@TressWLicker) June 12, 2016
Not making fun of anything (well, not of this), but names that mean something are interesting. It’s thus my job to report on them. See also: Fabrizio Ravanelli.
Poland deserved that. Northern Ireland’s lack of ambition was their undoing, really.
Updated
Final score: Poland 1-0 Northern Ireland
90+5 mins: It’s all over! And Poland have won!
90+4 mins: They can’t.
90+3 mins: Northern Ireland give away a free kick, just inside their half, and Poland kick it straight out of play. Perhaps one last chance, if Northern Ireland can get this forward, fast.
90+1 mins: Cathcart hits the ball into the box from the half-way line. Szczesny comes out a long way to claim it, and flies straight into Piszczek. That must have seriously hurt. Both players end up on the floor, but the ball does not end up at the feet of a forward.
90+1 mins: We’re into stoppage time, of which there should be at least three minutes. Two kind people on Twitter have confirmed that a kapustka is indeed a little cabbage.
90 mins: Norwood’s free kick bounces straight out of play, and it is anyway a free kick for Poland, for some penalty-area tussling.
89 mins: If only Northern Ireland had attacked – even occasionally – before the final 20 minutes. Piszczek takes out Dallas on the left flank, and is booked for his pains.
88 mins: Poland bring Peszko on for Little Cabbage.
88 mins: Krychowiak runs with the ball from left to right before, 25 yards from goal, slamming a right-footed shot that flies just wide of goal.
86 mins: Chance for Northern Ireland! Norwood takes it, from just inside Poland’s half, and he slides it along the ground into the penalty area and into the run of Davis, who swings a boot at it and misses entirely. Great set piece, obviously planned, which created space for Davis and then gave him the ball. Two-thirds of it was beautifully executed. The shot, not so much.
Updated
83 mins: “If I’m not mistaken, ‘Kapustka’ is the Polish for ‘little cabbage’,” writes Michael Minihan. That would be exciting if true. There’s nothing vegetable-like about him, though – seems a very decent young player.
82 mins: Two moments for Milik in the space of a couple of second - once he dummies the ball as it comes in from the right, but it doesn’t reach a team-mate. Then the ball is sent over the Northern Ireland defence, he reaches it before Lewandowski, but his shot is straight at McGovern.
82 mins: The Northern Ireland fans are singing Will Grigg’s on fire.
79 mins: Evans crosses from the left, all the defenders think Lafferty is going to head it, and when he doesn’t there’s a momentary fraction of a chance, before the ball hits Washington in the chest and goes out of play.
78 mins: More substitutions to report: Northern Ireland have brought on Jamie Ward, for Baird. And Poland have brought on Jodlowiec, for Maczynski.
75 mins: Poland work the ball well from left to centre, but the shot when it comes is well wide. The ball goes up the other end, where Lafferty chests the ball down, knees it back up and then attempts an optimistic 20-yard overhead, which doesn’t go in.
Updated
73 mins: Now they’re actually trying to occasionally maybe sometimes attack, Northern Ireland are finding that Poland don’t really like it. There’s a vague whiff of optimism in the air, even if Poland are using the ball better when they’ve got it.
71 mins: Oooh! Nearly a chance for Washington! The ball is kicked towards him on the right, and under pressure he pokes the ball into the air down the flank, spins and sets off! He gets there first, bursts into the box, and then, just as it looks like he’ll have an amazing chance to equalise, takes a heavy touch, and Szczesny dives on the ball.
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69 mins: Craig Cathcart has been booked for taking Lewandowski’s feet away – not literally – with the ball long gone.
Updated
68 mins: Poland break, and it ends with Blaszczykowski sending a cross-shot zipping from right to left and just wide of the back stick.
Northern Ireland touch the ball in Poland's penalty area!
67 mins: Dallas flings the ball into the box, Gareth McAuley gets his head to it, and it flies straight into a defender and behind for a corner. Which is punched clear by Szczesny. Still, it’s a touch.
Updated
66 mins: Northern Ireland make a change, bringing Conor Washington on for Shane Ferguson.
65 mins: Poland keep the ball for ages, before Baird finally nicks it off them in midfield and tries to launch a counter. Kaputstka tackles him – pretty cleanly – from behind, and the referee not only gives a free kick, he books the Pole as well.
Updated
63 mins: Poland pass the ball around in midfield, to a soundtrack of “Olé”s from the stands. Meanwhile, Mats Anderson wants us to learn Swedish, for some reason. “In swedish the name for Poland is Polen. With the o in Polen pronounced something like the awe in awesome,” he writes. “However, Nordpolen (which means northern Poland), is not the same thing as Nordpolen (the north pole). In the latter case the o in -polen is pronounced something like the twin o’s in pool. All this is slightly confused by the word pålen, with the å again pronounced something like awe in awesome. Pålen means the pole. As in wooden posts sticking up from the ground. Is all this clear? Understood? Comprehended?”
62 mins: Lewandowski plays in Kapustka in the penalty area, but Conor McLaughlin tracks the run excellently, slides in, deflects the ball behind and is given a very charitable goal kick for his troubles.
Updated
61 mins: Poland lead 290-95 on passes.
59 mins: Piszczek is played into acres of space on the right, takes three touches, gets into the penalty area, and then does a terrible, limp, bobbly attempted pull-back to nobody. A very good chance to make a chance, fluffed.
57 mins: Nope. Norwood sends the ball into the box, where the defender at the near post heads it clear.
57 mins: Free kick to Northern Ireland! Just outside Poland’s area, on the left! Are they about to touch the ball in Poland’s penalty area?
55 mins: The ball is passed to Blaszczykowski on the right wing. He lets it bounce off a shin and out of play, and collapses to his knees with his head in his hands as if he’d just missed a last-minute match-winning penalty.
53 mins: Just before the goal, Poland spent a couple of minutes knocking the ball around the back four, waiting for anyone in the Northern Ireland half to become available for a pass, then gave up and knocked it aimlessly long. At that moment, it looked like they were running out of ideas. About 30 seconds later, they went one up.
GOAL! Poland 1-0 Northern Ireland (Milik, 51 mins)
The breakthrough! A long ball is hoisted down the right, headed away by Evans and then siezed upon by Poland. A couple of quick passes, Blaszczykowski’s pull-back and Milik’s low shot from the edge of the area, and Poland lead!
Updated
48 mins: We’ve settled into a familiar pattern here. Poland try to pick out Lewandowski in the box, but fail.
46 mins: Poland get the second half under way.
The players are back out, and Poland are ready to get the second half under way. Stuart Dallas has come on at the break, and Paddy McNair gone off.
Apparently Northern Ireland have only conceded one first-half goal in their last 21 first halves. Which, amazing as it seems, suggests they don’t defend quite so well after half-time.
@Simon_Burnton 0-0 at h/t with Szceszny in the Polish goal. NI have to be in with a shout.
— dan friedman (@danfriedmanme) June 12, 2016
@Simon_Burnton also, interesting fact, p-o-l-i-s-h is one of the only words whose meaning is changed by an initial capital.
— dan friedman (@danfriedmanme) June 12, 2016
“I can’t recall seeing a less threatening side than Northern Ireland. I can’t envision any scenario in which they’re going to score a goal,” writes JR. “Of course I felt the same way yesterday about Russia with about five minutes left in the game.”
This picture tells the story pretty well, I think:
0 - #NIR haven't made any touch in the opposite box in the first half v #POL. Harmless. pic.twitter.com/n9Glo3ikNi
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) June 12, 2016
Interesting half of football. Northern Ireland have done very little attacking, but have defended deep, well, and in great numbers. Would three 0-0s be enough to get out of the group? Because that does appear to be the strategy.
Half time: Poland 0-0 Northern Ireland
45 mins: The referee allows precisely three seconds of stoppage time before blowing his whistle and heading indoors.
44 mins: Poland’s average positions show how little defending they’ve had to do.
Who's familiar with the 2-6-1-1 formation?
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 12, 2016
Here's #POL's average positions so far https://t.co/YwvpQ5l9D6 #GAWA pic.twitter.com/uTE4EhX8Oo
42 mins: Lovely skill from Blaszczykowski to find some space in midfield, and he then runs into the middle, feels contact from Evans’ hand on his shoulder, waits a moment and then flings himself to the floor. The referee gives the free kick to Northern Ireland, rightly.
Updated
40 mins: The corner leads to more manic action, as the ball bobbles from left to right across the edge of the six yard box, legs flung wildly in its direction from all angles, before finally it’s lashed wildly wide of the far post.
39 mins: Another chance for Poland – and a great save! Poland think Lafferty handled as he cleared a cross following a corner, but Kapustka doesn’t get caught up in that, seizing on the ball on the edge of the area, taking a couple of touches and then blasting towards goal. McGovern flings himself to his right to divert it over.
37 mins: Kapustka shoots from 20 yards, with defenders all around him, and skews it wide. It’s Poland’s eighth shot on goal – that’s eight more than Northern Ireland – but they’ve only once got one on target.
Updated
36 mins: For the second time in a couple of minutes, once on each flank, Northern Ireland win a throw-in, but the officials give it to Poland.
34 mins: Northern Ireland’s offensive strategy involves little more than hoisting the ball forward and hoping that it falls kindly. They win a free-kick on the halfway line, hoist it forward, Poland clear, Northern Ireland hoist it forward again, Poland – after a bit of procrastination – clear, Northern Ireland hoist it forward again, and this time Lafferty is offside. Poland don’t seem particularly concerned by any of this.
31 mins: Big chance! And a big miss! Kapustka pulls the ball back from the right byline to Milik, who doesn’t panic, works space and then lashes the ball high from eight yards with his left foot.
Updated
29 mins: Lewandowski nutmegs Baird to give the ball to Milik, 30 yards from goal. Milik advances a few paces and then slams a shot goalwards, which McGovern has time to push down into the ground before catching (just as well really, as it was too hard to be safely caught first time).
27 mins: Evans hoists the ball into the penalty area, and Szczesny comes out well to catch it, with Lafferty leaping into him a fraction of a moment later, just to be friendly.
Updated
25 mins: Poland have had 66% of possession so far.
23 mins: Lewandowski just collapsed in the penalty area, a result of some off-the-ball contact – or alleged contact, at least – with McAuley.
Updated
22 mins: Blaszczykowski’s corner is headed clear to Piszczek, who – perhaps having watched Modric’s goal for Croatia earlier – attempts a long-range volley. He does not get Modric-style result, though, blasting it into a defender.
@Simon_Burnton I'd say it's a spirited match. Like an FA Cup tie. Energy in abundance, guile ... well, guile pulled a hamstring and is out.
— Hubert O'Hearn (@BTBReviews) June 12, 2016
20 mins: Lewandowski, on the edge of the area, chests the ball down, flicks it over his shoulder and spins. Lovely work, but Gareth McAuley recovers well to being turned, gets a leg in the way of the ball and then boots it clear.
Updated
18 mins: An attack from Northern Ireland, or kind of. They work the ball to Ferguson on the left, but when he sends in a first-time low cross there’s nobody in the area to try to win it.
17 mins: Maczynski bursts into the area and drills the ball into the mixer, where it bounces off a defender, off an attacker and out of play. A decent run from the midfielder, even if all it produced was a bit off pinball.
14 mins: Cathcart protects the ball under mild pressure on the right flank, before falling over for very little reason and getting a free kick for his pains.
The thought of Piszczek going for the post match doping test strangely amuses me.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 12, 2016
11 mins: Poland are attacking frantically, rather than enormously classily, and Northern Ireland are defending in numbers, with nine men behind the ball as I type.
9 mins: Jedrzejczyk gets free down the right as Conor McLaughlin mistimes his challenge, and sends in a low ball that Milik meets beyond the near post, and sidefoots well wide.
6 mins: Moments before that there was a chance in the area for Milik, but the ball bounced awkwardly and arrived at him just below waist height, and he totally misses it with a swinging right foot.
Updated
5 min: Maczynski tries a shot from 25 yards, but a defender absolutely flings himself at the ball and deflects it away. That’s heroic stuff. “George Best Belfast City Airport has been renamed Kyle Lafferty Belfast City Airport today,” notes Andy Gordon. “No sign of the fire service being renamed the Will Grigg’s on Fire Service though.”
Updated
3 mins: Poland attack well, despite defenders flinging themselves at the ball everywhere it goes. It ends with a Piszczek cross which flicks a defender on the way out, and the corner’s cleared.
2 mins: McAuley gives away a free kick and Northern Ireland have some defending to do. The ball is hit straight into the face of the only man in the Northern Ireland wall.
1 min: Northern Ireland well on top here. It’s been all green so far. 15 seconds played.
Excellent, noisy anthem renditions over. It’s time to play!
Updated
Out come the players! The sun is shining. Uefa report a temperature of 23C. The stadium looks packed and sounds noisy. It’s time.
It’s Pat Jennings’ birthday today. He is, apparently, in Nice.
Kyle Lafferty has played 337 minutes of league football this season, and 369 in all competitions. Robert Lewandowski has played 2,653 minutes of league football this season, and 4,236 in all competitions. That’s a difference of 64 hours and 27 minutes.
Player name meaning dept: Kamil Glik’s surname, according to Google Translate, means “carbide”. Fact.
Hategan was also investigated by Uefa for his handling of this incident in 2013 (though presumably they didn’t think it reflected badly on him, because, well, here he is).
Here’s today’s referee sending off Olivier Giroud in Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb last September. “The sending off is very harsh,” said Arsène Wenger. “I don’t understand the referee. It was not a second yellow.”
Ovidiu Alin Hategan is the third-youngest referee at Euro 2016, and has the second-highest yellow-card average. He is known as a bit of a disciplinarian, and just to save a bit of time he tends to keep the whistle in his mouth throughout the game.
Come on @NorthernIreland!!!! #GAWA #DareToDream
— Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) June 12, 2016
Here’s your print-out-and-keep official team sheet!
But if you can’t see it for any reason, here are the teams in text format:
Poland: Szczesny, Piszczek, Glik, Pazdan, Jedrzejczyk, Blaszczykowski, Krychowiak, Maczynski, Kapustka, Milik, Lewandowski. Subs: Boruc, Cionek, Jodlowiec, Linetty, Grosicki, Stepinski, Wawrzyniak, Peszko, Salamon, Zielinski, Starzynski, Fabianski.
Northern Ireland: McGovern, McLaughlin, Cathcart, Jonny Evans, McAuley, McNair, Norwood, Davis, Baird, Ferguson, Lafferty. Subs: Carroll, McGinn, Grigg, Washington, Corry Evans, Dallas, McCullough, Hughes, Ward, Magennis, Hodson, Mannus.
Referee: Ovidiu Alin Hategan (Romania).
In qualifying Poland scored 33 goals in 10 games*; Northern Ireland scored less than half as many, with 16. Robert Lewandowski, with 13, scored nearly as many in qualifying as Northern Ireland.
* True, 15 of them were against Gibraltar. But there were also three in a win and a draw against Germany.
Ireland’s team sheet is in, and these are the names upon it:
The starting 11 for our first ever match at @UEFAEURO Finals! 💚#DareToDream #GAWA #POL v #NIR pic.twitter.com/mUKXEQvcRQ
— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) June 12, 2016
No official confirmation, but the Polish team will probably look like this:
[OFICJALNIE] Poznaliśmy skład na mecz z Irlandią Północną. Biało-czerwone EURO 2016 czas zacząć! pic.twitter.com/cmxotVQnil
— PZPN (@pzpn_pl) June 12, 2016
Hello world!
Still waiting for the team sheets, Uefa clearly being far too excited to photocopy and distribute such things. In the meantime, let’s dance.
I feature this for no reason other than that it’s, like, pretty cool.
Simon will be here shortly. In the meantime, read about how Gerry Francis thinks Northern Ireland can make this a memorable tournament.
Gerry Armstrong knows a thing or two about upsetting the odds at a major tournament. By scoring for Northern Ireland against Spain at the 1982 World Cup he secured arguably the most famous victory in the country’s history. So when Armstrong talks of parallels between the squad Michael O’Neill has taken to Euro 2016 and the ones he was part of during Northern Ireland’s golden era, it is worth listening.
Armstrong’s goal in Valencia, famously driven through the legs of Spain’s goalkeeper Luis Arconada, meant the team finished top of their group. Four years later Northern Ireland were back on the grandest stage, at the World Cup in Mexico. Although they failed to make it beyond the opening round there, Armstrong believes O’Neill’s team are capable of reaching the knockout stages in France, their first major tournament since then.
