Euro 2016: Germany beat Northern Ireland 1-0 to enter knockouts

Paris Mario Gomez scored the only goal to help Germany beat Northern Ireland 10 to qualify for the knockout stage as Group C leader at Euro 2016 here on TuesdayGermanys forward Mario Gomez R celebrates scoring the opening goal with Germanys midfielder Thomas Mueller during the Euro 2016 group C football match between Northern Ireland and Germany at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris PicAFPNorthern Ireland playing their first major tournament since 1986 also booked a berth in the last 16 after finishing as one of the best thirdplaced teamsThe 30yearold Gomez fired home from close range in the 30th minute after unselfish play inside the area by Thomas Muller who laid it into his teammates path to put the world champions ahead Xinhua reportedBut Germanys superiority was actually far more than the scoreline has suggestedIn the 36th minute Mullers instinctive firsttime effort hit the Northern Ireland bar and in the second half Mario Gotzes chances were saved by Northern Ireland goalkeeper Michael McGovernMcGovern who plays for Scottish club Hamilton Academical was undoubtedly Northern Irelands Man of the Match as he singlehandedly denied Germany at least eight goals during the matchJoachim Low the head coach of Germany gave a lot of credit to Northern Ireland With all due respect to Northern Ireland who did very well in qualifying they were always going to throw everything into this match because its the game of their lives It was to be expected that they fought hard and showed passion Northern Ireland manager Michael ONeill said Its not in my nature to set the team up to lose 70 But we earned the right to be here and well have earned the right to be in the last 16 if we make it that far Im immensely proud that we are even playing here against the world champions in ParisHe added I think the players will take an awful lot from the performance We dont have any players in our squad that have played any European football so when they step up the experience of playing against the level of opponent we have today can only help usONeill said at the post match press conference that he hoped the team could qualifyIt was very difficult for us but we hung in there and defended great Michael McGovern had a fantastic night and hopefully we have the opportunity now to play in the knockout stagesLater when he learned they would not go home he got excitedIts surreal ONeill told the BBC Im not sure its really sunk in yet but its a fantastic achievementWe knew the group would be difficult What we saw tonight was a team that refused to be beaten by a big margin and did everything possible to stay in the gameAsked whether he would rather face Wales or France ONeill added If I was picking a team I thought we had a better chance against I would say Wales but well see who comes out after the final group games on Wednesday