Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill said "the players deserve the opportunity to play in the round of 16" after their 1-0 defeat to Germany on Tuesday (21st June) later proved to be enough to ensure a place in the knockout stage of Euro 2016, while German coach Joachim Loew revealed that Jerome Boateng picked up a calf problem but was hopeful he'd be fit for their next match.

SOUNDBITE: (English) Michael O'Neill, Northern Ireland manager

"Ideally we would have hoped to have guaranteed a place in the last 16, but we always knew that was going to be difficult given the nature of the opponent and if we were going to lose the game that was the best defeat we could have had. I think we did remarkably well to stay in the game, you are never going to play Germany, the World Champions, and not have that kind of night. The game was different tactically from what we envisaged. Germany on the night were exceptional in terms of how they moved the ball. It was very difficult for us to get pressure on the ball and we hung in there. We defended well, Michael (McGovern) had a fantastic night in goal, he's had a fantastic tournament and we've given ourselves a chance now of getting the opportunity of playing in the knockout stage of the competition and I think what we've done over the three games we deserve that chance."

SOUNDBITE: (German) Joachim Loew, Germany head coach (Q: How satisfied are you with your attack? How do you consider you potential round of 16 opponents Albania or Slovakia?)

"I think it's too early to talk about them. I don't know what is going to happen in Group F, it depends on what is going to happen tomorrow. It is quite complicated also for me. The Slovakians have played well, we have played against them, we have lost 3-1 in Augsburg, we know what we are going to face with Slovakia. We and others have watched Albania a couple of times."