Paddy McNair was left to rue a missed opportunity as he believes Germany were “there for the taking” in Northern Ireland’s 3-1 World Cup qualifying defeat on Sunday night.

Two goals in the space of four second-half minutes from Nadiem Amiri and Florian Wirtz put the game beyond Northern Ireland after Isaac Price’s superb volley had cancelled out Serge Gnabry’s early goal.

While there were plenty of positives to take from a night on which Northern Ireland were well in the game against the four-time world champions for over an hour, it was a case of what might have been with Northern Ireland unhappy at how they conceded the first two goals.

“It was really, really frustrating,” McNair said. “You don’t usually come off the pitch against Germany having this feeling.

placeholder image — Northern Ireland players and fans left Germany with a sense of pride despite defeat in the World Cup qualifying clash. (Photo by INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty)

“I feel like they were there for the taking to get something from the game.”

Northern Ireland lost possession too easily for the opener as Nick Woltemade put Gnabry through one-on-one but Michael O’Neill’s side responded well to the early setback and, after Price’s leveller, were on top as shown by the shrill of whistles from the home fans at half-time.

Moments before Price’s equaliser McNair had headed narrowly over against a less-than-convincing Germany defence.

“Coming into the game, it was ‘make sure we don’t concede early’,” McNair added. “Sometimes when you emphasise that it’s what happens.

“We came back in the game well, I’d a header before Isaac scored.

“Before the end of the first half, I thought they couldn’t wait for the whistle to go. We were really on top.”

Germany, whose 2-0 loss to Slovakia on Thursday was a third consecutive defeat, looked jittery as Northern Ireland harried them but Amiri’s goal came out of nothing as a long ball forward from David Raum caused confusion in the visiting defence.

Three minutes later, Wirtz thumped in a free-kick and the game was over.

“We knew they’d come out again strong but I thought we came out stronger in the second half,” McNair said. “Then they start growing into the game, maybe lads were getting a bit tired or whatever, that’s just the second goal then the free-kick, then bang-bang, it’s 3-1. It’s just really frustrating.”

McNair likened the feeling of defeat to Northern Ireland’s 3-1 loss to the Netherlands in Rotterdam in 2019, when the Dutch scored twice in stoppage time to complete a come-from-behind victory.

But when the sting subsides, Northern Ireland can take some pride from the way they battled against a Germany team packed with Champions League-level players, taking the lessons forward into next month when Slovakia and Germany visit Windsor Park.

“There’s some very talented players and we survived that quite well,” McNair said.

“That probably adds to the frustration because I felt like their goals, they didn’t have to work too hard for them. It’s just gutting.

“The feeling I have now is sort of the same as I had against Holland, that sort of big nation, that was a good chance and we just let it slip a bit. When you look at the bigger picture, it’s definitely moving in the right direction.

“Next month, with two home games, it’s exciting and we can keep pushing forward.”