Northern Ireland fired by frustration but Xherdan Shaqiri believes it's a matter of 'when', not 'if' for Switzerland

The Northern Irish travel to from Belfast to Basel with a sense of injustice

Shaqiri won the penalty against Corry Evans (Getty)

Amid the fumes and furore surrounding Thursday night’s 1-0 first leg defeat at Windsor Park, Northern Ireland flew from Belfast to Basel on Friday hoping that a sense of injustice can provide them with extra fuel.

The hope that the frustration at the unfair penalty-kick awarded against Michael O’Neill’s players will bring added drive, however, is offset by the likely reality that the Irish will be chasing Switzerland once again on the pitch on Sunday.

The Swiss had 65 per cent possession on Thursday, the Irish had no efforts on target and Xherdan Shaqiri has delivered an ominous promise: “We will not sit back and relax, we are not a team that does that.”

Switzerland’s last loss at home in a competitive match came against England over three years ago – one of only two competitive home defeats in 16 years. Moreover, the Swiss won all five of their home qualifiers and by an aggregate scoreline of 13-2, including beating Euro 2016 champions Portugal 2-0.

Shaqiri used the words “when we qualify” – though not in an arrogant manner – and there is substance to Swiss self-confidence.

“Northern Ireland will have to play more offensively in Basel,” Shaqiri said at Windsor Park. “They have to score to try to get to the World Cup.

“Today they played too defensively, they did not do enough to score. So they’re going to come to Basel and try to be more offensive but that will mean it is more open for us.”

Northern Ireland will need to cause an upset in Basel on Sunday night (PA)

O’Neill will understand Shaqiri’s observations. Northern Ireland’s manager is a realist, but perhaps a by-product of the Irish rise under the 48 year-old is that excitement has skewed perceptions of what he has available.

There was a feeling in Belfast that Northern Ireland entered the play-off as equals, but Switzerland have better players operating at a higher club level.

The evidence is there wherever you look – the Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer has played nearly 40 games in the Champions League; the Irish keeper Michael McGovern has not played one game this season in the Championship. The Swiss right-back, Stephan Lichtsteiner, plays for Juventus; Northern Ireland’s, Conor McLaughlin, plays for Millwall.

So it goes on. When O’Neill introduced his three substitutes in the second half on Thursday, all three were from the Championship. Of these, Jamie Ward has played only 44 minutes for Nottingham Forest this season.

Northern Ireland were in disbelief about the penalty award (Getty)

When O’Neill’s counterpart, Vladimir Petkovic, brought on three players, all were from the Bundesliga.

The difference in pedigree showed on a difficult night for Northern Ireland, but the fact they conceded only one goal means all is not lost.

There was a similar low feeling at Euro 2016 when the Irish lost their group opener to Poland 1-0. O’Neill made radical changes for the next game and the Irish defeated Ukraine 2-0.

In terms of performance, a comparable turnaround is required for Sunday evening. At the Euros, O’Neill felt the need for more energy in his team, but now he needs more of that, and quality, and patience and at least one goal.

“We’re still in the tie,” said Jonny Evans, who also mentioned the Euros experience, “it’s important not to get carried away. We still have the ability and character in the squad to turn it around.”

O’Neill has stimulated some powerful performances from his team during the past three years in particular, but a Northern Ireland victory in Basel would top any of them.