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Patrick Kelly said he scored his first international goal against one of the most fancied sides to win the World Cup, with Northern Ireland not really sinking in after losing 3-1 to France in Lille.
Barnsley midfielder Michael O’Neill’s side pulled a goal back after two Michael Olis goals, with the Bayern Munich frontman going on to add a third to complete his hat-trick.
The result gave the French a triumphant send-off to the World Cup and ensured Didier Deschamps’ final game as manager on home soil.
Kelly rubbed shoulders with the likes of French superstars Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele and was thrilled to find the net in his second start for Northern Ireland.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet. Just the buzz, a bit disappointed with the result,” summed up the 21-year-old in an interview with BBC Sport NI’s Gavin Andrews after the game.
“When you look at their team you don’t expect too much from us against them but I thought we did really well. We were in the whole game.
“Maybe I had one or two chances to score in the first half, then obviously I got one in the second half, which was a nice feeling to score my first senior international goal, but a bit disappointed I didn’t get another one.”
Shea Charles delivered for Kelly to find the target.
“It was amazing from Shea. He’s a great player. I saw him break down and I gambled that he was going to do better than his man and he did. I just moved a little bit to the right,” he explained.
“Thankfully he found me and it’s one of the easiest scores I’ll ever score.
“A lot of our young guys can learn a lot from tonight and it will stand us in good stead.”
Kelly, who began his career with Irish Premiership club Coleraine, said the fact that his club’s season ended more than a month ago made the match against some of the world’s top players a demanding assignment.
“It was tough. I haven’t started a game since the season ended on May 2 so it was tougher. I really felt it tonight, especially at times in the first half.
“But I think tonight we had a really good mindset to keep digging in. We didn’t concede but obviously they have serious quality and their goals were very good, but I thought it was a good performance.
“The main thing for me was the physicality and how quickly they move with the ball. They’re just that extra yard quicker and stronger.
“Whenever I was walking in the tunnel and all the fireworks were going off it felt a little surreal. It was unreal.”
