Euro 2028: Michael O'Neill 'has one eye' on developing young squad for tournament
- Published
(From left to right): Dale Taylor (19), Callum Marshall (18), Isaac Price (20) and Brodie Spencer (19) are some of the young players in Michael O'Neill's squad
Euro 2024 qualifying: Northern Ireland v San Marino |
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Venue: Windsor Park, Belfast Date: Saturday, 14 October Kick-off: 14:00 BST |
Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Ulster; live text commentary and report on the BBC Sport website; Match of the Day highlights on BBC One NI and BBC iPlayer from 22:25 BST. |
Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill admits he has "one eye" on Euro 2028 as he looks to develop his young squad on the international stage.
The UK and Ireland won the bid to host Euro 2028 on Tuesday, with Casement Park in Belfast set to host games.
O'Neill is in his second stint as Northern Ireland manager and is contracted to 2028.
"We have to build a team for the 2026 [World Cup] campaign but also with one eye on 2028," O'Neill said.
O'Neill's comments come as Northern Ireland's hopes of reaching the Euro 2024 finals were all but ended after away defeats by Slovenia and Kazakhstan in September.
With several key players unavailable for large parts of the campaign - including captain Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas and the now-retired Craig Cathcart - O'Neill has previously admitted he has had to promote and use more younger players than he would have anticipated.
As qualification is now unlikely, O'Neill says he is focused on developing his young squad for the 2026 World Cup and Euro 2028 qualifying campaigns and giving minutes to many of the young players in his squad, like Shea Charles, Isaac Price, Trai Hume or Conor Bradley, who is currently out injured.
"It's fantastic. It was a very strong bid, clearly, with the other home nations and it's something for us to look forward to," O'Neill said on the UK and Ireland's successful bid.
"In the back of my mind, I look at some of the players in this group who are 18, 19 or 20 years of age.
"By the time that tournament comes around they will still be young players in their early 20s, but hopefully with a lot more international experience than they have now."
The involvement of gaelic games stadium Casement Park in the Euro 2028 bid has been seen as controversial with the redevelopment work yet to get underway after more than 10 years of legal and planning challenges, along with financial questions.
Northern Ireland play their home matches at Windsor Park, but the south Belfast stadium's capacity of 18,500 is well under Uefa's stipulation of 30,000 to host matches at the tournament.
"I don't have a strong view on the Casement situation," O'Neill added on Wednesday.
"Uefa have a stipulation in terms of capacity that's required and we don't have that at this minute in time.
"If we had that then I don't think we would be discussing this issue. The most important thing is for us to be part of the bid and we are part of the bid as things stand at this minute in time."
O'Neill added that the Irish League still has a big role to play and is a "breeding ground" for potential international players.
'We want the habit of winning'
Northern Ireland's squad are preparing for a home double-header in Euro 2024 qualifying against San Marino and Slovenia at Windsor Park.
O'Neill admitted he was "disappointed with some of the results" but the upcoming matches in Belfast will be a step in building a winning mentality.
"We've had six games and we've been disappointed with some of the results," the 54-year-old said.
"Not necessarily with the performances at times, there has been bits in the games where we can be pleased with a lot of aspects.
"I think it is a team that has to develop and has to grow.
"We've only had two games at home, so I think it is really important, particularly for the younger players, that they get used to playing in front of the home crowd.
"I think they will get a boost from that and get in the habit of winning games, that's where you want all international players to be.
"We are in a process at the minute where we are in a downturn in terms of results, so we have to make sure we try to address that in terms of the two home games."