Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill has said that he has spoken to Republic of Ireland boss Martin O'Neill ahead of their Group C fixture with Germany.
Republic of Ireland took four points off the world champions during qualifying, and similar success for Northern Ireland on Tuesday evening would be enough to take the tournament debutants through to the last 16.
However, while acknowledging the threat that Germany offer, O'Neill is keen for his side to relish the opportunity of playing in one of the biggest fixtures in their nation's history.
The 46-year-old told reporters: "I spoke to Martin over dinner some months ago and he basically said get as many men behind the ball as possible.
"Every team and every coach does their analysis on the opposition and we have obviously watched how Republic of Ireland got success and their opening two games of the tournament as well.
"It's as stiff a test as we can get but I think this is a special moment. If you had offered us a game with the world champions in Paris where a win could possibly see us top the group, I think we would have happily taken that."
A draw would be enough to guarantee a place in the knockout stages as a third-place qualifier while victory would see Northern Ireland move ahead of Germany in the group.
Darren Plant
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