Northern Ireland must abandon fears

Taglines and hashtags are all the rage at this tournament.

Stadiums, buses, billboards and media guides have all been suitably adorned in the hope that these bon mots can be drilled into the collective subconscious and Northern Ireland’s ‘Dare to Dream’ offering is probably among the more easily digestible.

As catch-all marketing phrases go, it summarises well enough the task facing Michael O’Neill’s side and the bravura approach that everyone felt would be needed to build on an extraordinary qualifying campaign.