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Northern Ireland suffered relegation in the Nations League even before their final group game kicked off as UEFA awarded Romania the points from their cancelled match against Norway on Sunday.<\/p>\nNorthern Ireland suffered relegation in the Nations League even before their final group game kicked off as UEFA awarded Romania the points from their cancelled match against Norway on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Norway, who were told not to travel to Bucharest by their government after a positive test for coronavirus within their camp, were deemed to have forfeited the game, with Romania awarded a 3-0 win.<\/p>\n
The decision, issued a little over three hours before Northern Ireland host Romania at Windsor Park in their final Group B1 game, leaves Northern Ireland six points adrift at the foot of the standings and destined for League C.<\/p>\n
A UEFA statement said Norway were considered \u201cresponsible for the match not taking place\u201d on Sunday, with the forfeiture in line with the regulations agreed in August against the backdrop of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Relegation marks a new low for Northern Ireland in a competition they have never enjoyed, having lost eight of their nine games to date, only avoiding the drop two years ago thanks to a reformatting of the leagues.<\/p>\n
In this year\u2019s competition they began with an encouraging 1-1 draw in Romania, equalizing through Gavin Whyte in the 87th minute, but have since suffered defeats home and away to Norway and Austria, losing 2-1 in Vienna on Sunday after conceding twice in the final 10 minutes.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Tuesday, manager Ian Baraclough said the uncertainty over their fate given the cancellation of the Romania-Norway contest would not affect their match preparations for Wednesday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a game plan, we\u2019ve worked on stuff and we know the threats Romania will pose,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our mindset we are going out to win the game and that doesn\u2019t change if we get a ruling from UEFA on the game from the other night.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe leave that up to them; it\u2019s something we can\u2019t control and we go into this game positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Romania will now eye an opportunity to overhaul Norway, two points above them, and move up to second in the standings.<\/p>\n