THROUGHOUT the week long build up Bryan Hamilton had made it abundantly clear that this was a game he felt Northern Ireland needed to win in order to keep alive their chances of qualification from Group Nine. After they drew, he was, he said, delighted. Delighted, that is, to be disappointed. The result and performance, he said, were a measure of just how far his young team has come.
"A couple of years ago this would have been a really big result for us, but now we're all downhearted. I think that says a lot for the way we are developing as team. These players have a very big future," he said.
Certainly the long term prospects look relatively bright with Friday's 2-0 victory in the under 21 match a highly encouraging pointer. Whether there is even the slightest chance that future will include a trip to France next year, however, would appear to most to depend heavily on whether an unlikely win can be secured in the Ukraine. Yet Hamilton, like his opposite number Artur Jorge, feels the group remains wide open with four teams still in the hunt.
Jorge was quick to claim that Northern Ireland are very difficult to beat, especially on home soil. Having seen his own side dominate much of the last hour of the game, though, the Portuguese coach can hardly feel much confidence that Germany will fail to convert their game in Belfast into three points. Up front, Domingos Joao Pinto and, later, to the delight of the crowd, Celtic's Jorge Cadete clearly lacked the punch which Ricardo Sa Pinto might have provided. The visit of the European champions in August is Hamilton's only remaining home fixture. Not surprisingly, he was concentrating on the assets displayed on the team's recent travels. "We are very well organised, with great spirit and a lot of discipline, we'll create upsets when we're away," he said.
Understandably, though, he chose to steer clear of mentioning either his side's occasional inclination to self destruct or its chronic lack of technically gifted players. Factors which, one feels, are likely to have at least as much of a bearing on their fortunes over the coming months.
All these characteristics, both good and bad, were displayed on Saturday. A surprisingly strong start by the hosts almost yielded a lead, but, as the game went on the Portugal's superior skills gave them an upper hand that should have been converted into a win.
The visitors' defence took some time to come to grips with the troublesome presence of lain Dowie up front. The West Ham striker worked tirelessly to create chances for James Quinn whose hesitancy proved costly on more than one occasion.
A little ironically perhaps, the Portuguese defence seemed far more able to cope with the more orthodox ball skills possessed by Keith Gillespie who was rarely allowed the room he needed to do anything constructive. Nevertheless, it was his 22nd minute cross that produced the home side's best chance of the opening period, with Dowie heading back from the far post and Vitor Baia having to dive off his line to prevent Quinn poking the ball home.
The Barcelona goalkeeper's athleticism was overshadowed by his opposite number, however, with Tommy Wright producing a couple of superb stops, the best coming in the 34th minute when Sergio Conceicao met a high through ball with a rasping strike on the edge of the area.
The visitors, needing a win to bolster their own chances of qualification, took control in the second half with the previously impressive Neil Lennon, Steve Lomas and Jim Magilton finally becoming overwhelmed in midfield.
Paulo Sousa went close to scoring in the 54th minute with a shot that bounced just the wrong side of the right hand post, but his side's best chance came nine minutes later when Joao Pinto, somewhat dubiously, beat the home side's offside trap only to be dispossessed by Wright who had anticipated the trouble well and sprinted far off his line to intervene.
At the end each side got the point they deserved, but the result that neither had really wanted. Before departing to consider his options for the game on Wednesday (when both Michael Hughes and Kevin Horlock will return from suspension), Hamilton did much to undermine his earlier bravado. "I always think positive and today I'm proud that my team went out there and won a point." Maybe his team haven't come so far after all.
