MX23RW : Friday, April 26 16:40:13| >> :600:2583759:2583759:
[monks data]
Wales national football team
European Championship | Round of 16
Jun 25, 2016 at 5pm UK
 
Northern Ireland national football team

1-0

McAuley (75' og.)
FT(HT: 0-0)

Chris Coleman: 'Wales got lucky in seeing off Northern Ireland'

Wales boss Chris Coleman claims that his side deserved the fortune that came their way during the 1-0 win over Northern Ireland in Paris.

Chris Coleman has confessed that Wales had "lady luck" to thank for getting past Northern Ireland and booking a place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016.

The Red Dragons failed to match the high levels set in the 3-0 win over Russia last time out, but were able to get over the line thanks to a Gareth McAuley own goal 15 minutes from time at the Parc des Princes.

Gareth Bale played a crucial role in the breakthrough moment, charging down the left and sending in a dangerous cross that the Irish defender could only turn past his own keeper from a few yards out to create more Welsh history in Paris.

Coleman's men now have a quarter-final tie against either Belgium or Hungary to look forward to in their first ever appearance at the European Championship finals, although the Wales boss admits that it could have been a very different story on the day.

"In terms of how far we can go, I've already said we won't look past the next challenge," he told reporters. "This is brilliant - lady luck shone on us, but we earned it. Hungary and Belgium pose different problems but we'll worry about that tomorrow. We must enjoy this.

"We didn't play well at all, but that wasn't our fault - it was credit to Northern Ireland who did what they do very well and make it difficult for opponents. I'm not taking anything way from our boys. It was an ugly win but who cares. We've sat here before and played well and not got a result.

"It's a good sign because we've had to win in different ways. You have to feel for Michael O'Neill who's done a fantastic job. It won't make it any easy, for them , they'll be disappointed, but they've done brilliantly. I wasn't looking forward to it because I knew it was going to be tough. We didn't play as well as we could but that's credit to Northern Ireland."

Wales have now lost just two of their nine fixtures at major tournaments, one of which came against England as they topped the Group B standings.

ID:275502: cacheID:275502:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3353:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Gareth Bale celebrates scoring Wales's first goal against Slovakia at Euro 2016 on June 11, 2016
Read Next:
Gareth Bale: 'We expected an ugly match'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Germany Germany00000
2 Hungary Hungary00000
3 Scotland flag Scotland00000
4 Switzerland Switzerland00000

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Albania national flag Albania00000
2 Croatia Croatia00000
3 Italy Italy00000
4 Spain Spain00000

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Denmark Denmark00000
2 England flag England00000
3 Serbia Serbia00000
4 Slovenia Slovenia00000

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Austria Austria00000
2 France France00000
3 Netherlands Netherlands00000
4 Poland Poland00000

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Belgium Belgium00000
2 Romania Romania00000
3 Slovakia Slovakia00000
4 Ukraine Ukraine00000

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Czech Republic Czech Republic00000
2 Georgia Georgia00000
3 Portugal Portugal00000
4 Turkey Turkey00000


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!