5) Steven Davis
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While one of the primary objectives for Northern Ireland at the Parc de Princes on Saturday night will be to absorb the early pressure and frustrate Wales, they would do well to be mindful of the fact that the Euros so far have shown a general trend of very late, almost heartbreaking goals being conceded.
Football games, especially knockouts, aren’t won by just defending and containing. Scoring before their opponents on the night, an early one at that, may go a long way in soothing the Northern Irish nerves and captain Steven Davis, who makes the Northern Irish tick from defence to offence, will be vary of that.
O’Neill’s side will be banking on their captain to produce a repeat of his stellar performance in the win over Ukraine, where he lead his team from the front – organised his midfield as a rock solid defensive cover and took it upon himself to control the possession, distributing it justly.
His job of shielding the back four against typical Welsh onslaughts and his ability to get them moving forward as an offensive threat whenever any counter-attacking opportunity arises will be absolutely pivotal in Paris.
