'There are positives to take' - Magill on Portugal loss

Northern Ireland striker Simone Magill said that her side can take "pride" in their performance despite a 4-0 defeat by Portugal in their Euro 2025 qualifying game in Leiria.

A double from Lucia Alves as well as goals from Carole Costa and Catrina Amado sealed group leaders Portugal's third consecutive victory in Group B3.

It was Northern Ireland's first loss in the qualifying campaign and Magill does not believe the score line tells the full story of the game.

"There are a lot of positives to take although people might not see that from the score line," she said.

"We created chances, it could have been a lot worse we could have been played off the park, but we didn’t so there is a lot of pride we can take from that."

'It was a game of moments'

Magill played the full 90 minutes of the defeat in Leiria

Magill concedes that the Northern Ireland were undone by a clinical Portugal side, but praised the performance of goalkeeper Jackie Burns, who produced a number of notable saves to keep the score down.

"It was a game of moments and Portugal were better with their moments and it’s always a tough one to take especially when the fourth goal goes in with the last kick of the game," she admitted.

"Jackie was phenomenal with some of the saves she pulled off if it wasn't for her it probably could have been more."

The forward is confident that with the second game of the double-header coming up on Tuesday at Mourneview Park, Northern Ireland can quickly amend mistakes made on Friday night and produce another positive display on home soil.

"We have to stick together, and we go again on Tuesday. We’ll definitely reflect on Friday night's game, but all focus has to turn to Tuesday as there’s another game around the corner where we can go and put things right."