Michael O’Neill described the top to Northern Eire’s World Cup dream as merciless. (Reuters Picture)

Northern Eire supervisor Michael O’Neill was left to lament what he described as a merciless finish to his workforce’s World Cup hopes after their Zero-Zero playoff draw with Switzerland on Sunday.

The 2-leg World Cup playoff tie was in the end determined by the massively controversial penalty awarded for handball in opposition to Corry Evans and transformed by Ricardo Rodriguez within the first leg in Belfast on Thursday.

Northern Eire, who final certified for the World Cup in 1986, had been incensed as Evans had his again to the ball and it appeared inconceivable for him to get out of the way in which.

Additionally they got here agonisingly near forcing extra-time on Sunday when Evans’ brother Jonny had a header cleared off the road in stoppage time — additionally by Rodriguez.

“The cruelty is the poorness of the choice,” O’Neill informed reporters. “We must always nonetheless be enjoying further time proper now… sure, Switzerland had been the higher workforce within the first sport however they didn’t rating (from open play) and we had been the higher workforce tonight.

“In fact, the gamers are emotional, they’re upset, there have been some gamers in tears,” he added.

“The feelings are very excessive, it’s an enormous, large disappointment. For a few of these gamers, it’s unlikely that the World Cup will come round for them.”

Congratulating his opponents, O’Neill added that they had been to not blame for the way in which the tie was settled. “We don’t maintain that in opposition to Switzerland,” he stated.

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