Josh Magennis reminisces Euro 2016 experience as Northern Ireland return to France
Euro 2016 is a tournament that will always be fondly remembered by Northern Ireland fans and current international Josh Magennis is no different as Michael O’Neill’s men return to France tomorrow night.
Northern Ireland meet World Cup-bound France in Lille on Monday as they complete their June international window, which started with a 1-0 win over Guinea last Thursday.
Magennis is the only surviving member from the Euro 2016 squad in O’Neill’s latest panel as they return to the country which played host to their last involvement at a major tournament a decade ago.
Northern Ireland lost their opening game to Poland at Euro 2016 but recovered to beat Ukraine in Lyon as Gareth McAuley and Niall McGinn famously bagged the goals.
After a narrow loss to Germany, O’Neill’s men then qualified for the last 16 where they were cruelly beat by Wales as McAuley scored an unfortunate own goal.
Speaking to BBC Sport NI, Magennis, who is now a free agent after leaving Exeter City, shared his memories from his time in France back in 2016.
"I still remember from when we left the hotel in the Culloden and when we got the suits. It was unbelievable," he said.
"It was just amazing from start to finish. To be able to say you've played for your country is brilliant, but to go toe-to-toe with the world's best on the European stage was absolutely fantastic.
"We all went over and we were celebrating with our families (versus Ukraine), and I was looking at the boys' faces and I was like, 'we're actually going to win in a major tournament'.
"And then the game against Germany, I always remember (goalkeeper) Michael McGovern having one of the best games of his life.
"It was just amazing for a lot of people and to see everything you've worked towards accumulate into a solid European Championship. It was brilliant."
France are widely tipped to be crowned world champions this summer as Didier Deschamps’ squad contains some of the best players in the world, including the likes of Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe and Ballon d'Or holder Ousmane Dembele.
Magennis, who won his 88th cap when he was utilised from the bench against Guinea, believes the young Northern Ireland squad can pose the French problems but knows they will be going all out for a reaction after losing to Ivory Coast on Thursday.
He added: "They are probably one of five teams going expecting that they can win the World Cup, and they've very rightly so because they've got unbelievable amount of players.
"But if we only ever worried about the opposition, we can never take full advantage of of how good we are as a team.
"There's no doubt we've got to try and manage and limit their dangers, but we've also got threats .
"If they disrespect us, which I'm not saying that they will, or if they're a bit lacklustre, we've got more than enough quality to hurt them and that's what we're planning to do."