Jonny Evans says Euro 2020 qualification would top even 2016 heroics for Northern Ireland
Jonny Evans has claimed that securing a place at Euro 2020 would be Michael O’Neill’s greatest achievement with Northern Ireland.
Evans is preparing for a crucial double-header against the Netherlands in Group C, with O’Neill’s squad facing a huge challenge to qualify automatically.
Northern Ireland are second in the group but must now play Ronald Koeman’s Dutch team twice before finishing their campaign against leaders Germany next month.
Four years ago, O’Neill guided the Green and White Army to their first major finals in three decades, reaching the round of 16 before an agonising defeat to Wales.
And Evans, the Leicester City defender, insists finishing ahead of the Netherlands would eclipse their achievements at Euro 2016 by some distance.
“When you consider that Germany and Holland are in our group, it would be a much bigger achievement,” he said.
“We won our first four games and even if we’d beaten Germany last month [they lost 0-2 at Windsor Park to the German side] we’d still not have been guaranteed qualification. That’s the magnitude of how hard this group is.
“We are now in a position where we’ve got to win away in Holland and Germany, and win our game against Holland at home.
“We needed Germany or Holland to slip up against another team, so qualifying almost feels impossible.
“But in the last three games we’ll do everything we can to keep the group alive. You just never know in international football.”
Evans has been outstanding for Leicester this season and will be crucial in Rotterdam on Thursday night as O’Neill seeks another huge upset in the group.
The Netherlands missed out on Euro 2016 and last year’s World Cup, with Koeman under pressure to deliver with such a talented squad. A win for the Dutch would lift them above Northern Ireland into second place on goal difference.
Evans said: “There’s been a resurgence in Holland, with the top players across Europe like Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay. For me, van Dijk is the best defender in Europe and possibly the world right now.
“But we are now fighting it out with them for second place. Our game against Germany wasn’t great and what made it worse that Holland had beaten them in September.
“That really opened up the group massively and changed our mindset. But we know that we can achieve things when people don’t expect it and we’ll be going all out to go there and win on Thursday.”
