Germany holds no fears for Coleman

As one of the men in green who were blown away by a German hurricane in Dublin last October, you might imagine there’d be a certain trepidation on Seamus Coleman’s part about the possibility of a repeat dose in Cologne on Friday.

But if it is a concern, he does a convincing job of hiding it.

“No, it’s happened,” says the Donegal man emphatically. “Everyone gets beaten. The best teams in the world — like Manchester United — get beaten by four or five goals to one. But you don’t go out fearing anyone. I don’t think you can. You go out looking forward to it — to the big occasion, the big stadium and the big players. That’s where you want to be — you want to be at the top.”