Kyle Lafferty was the wolf in sheep's clothing last night in Stockholm as he saved Norn Iron's blushes with a phenomenal 72nd minute equaliser.
While McClaren was red-faced in Russia, Worthers was smirking in Sweden after a spirited and rejuvenated performance from the Ulstermen in front of almost 2,000 travelling hallions.
Bizarre as it seems, and despite picking up only one point from a possible nine in the last three games, Norn Iron still have an outside chance of qualification should Lady Luck decide to shine her torch. If we beat the Danes at Windsor and Sweden beat Spain away then we will all be going to Gran Canaria knowing a victory will seal an Alpine holiday next summer.
Norn Iron started strongly and with confidence and were unlucky to go down after 15 minutes when Olof Mellberg was given space to slot in a set piece from Kim Kallstrom. It was poor defending but the Nordies refused to lie down. Two minutes later Healy nearly equalised forcing a decent safe from Isaksson.
Ibrahimovic was a thorn in the Norn Iron side throughout the game, showing a performance that was thankfully missing in Belfast, nearly putting the Swedes ahead in the 28th minute only for Big Maik to save our blushes with a fantastic save.
Gareth McAuley, making his first team full debut, nearly spoilt the party before the interval, gifting a misdirected pass to Ibrahimovic who set up Elmander to clip it just wide of the post.
The second half started positively with Norn Iron picking up where they left off by dominating possession. The Swedes were clearly running out of ideas and on 60 minutes Chris Brunt nearly bagged a screamer from 25 yards that just went over the bar. Confidence was certainly not lacking as the GAWA army turned up the volume in expectation.
Then finally, in the 72nd minute, Kyle Lafferty took advantage of a slip by Petter Hansson; skirted round Olof Mellberg to pick his spot and shot straight passed Isaksson into the top left hand corner to level the score. The travelling support went completely ballistic... we deserved this.
Norn Iron continued to pressurise with an opportunity from Healy unlucky to be scuppered. In the last three games Healy has literally been crowded out. Scandinavia is a good omen for Lafferty who scored in his debut against Finland, so it's unfortunate he will miss our meeting with the Danes due to suspension.
Worthers was delighted as everyone else was for him.
'Of course we can get points from the last two games, ' said the Northern Ireland manager.
'It will not be an easy game against Denmark but we will be looking for a repeat performance of tonight.
'To come to Sweden, who are top of the group with quality players from all around Europe, it is great credit to us that we got a point.'
'I thought the players were outstanding. You have to admire our play and work rate.
'When we played Iceland and Latvia last month, the play was there but the work rate was not.
'The players have worked hard the last few days and they have got a well-deserved reward.
'The only blip in the first half was we were disappointed to concede the goal.
'I was delighted with the passing, the work ethic.
'We said at half-time, as long as we keep it at 1-0, we might just get back into it.
'It shows the players what they need to do without me harping on about it.
'They can play good football and when they work hard the two go hand and hand and you get results.'
Final Score: Sweden (1) 1 (Mellberg 15) Norn Iron (0) 1 (Lafferty 72)
Sweden: 1 Andreas Isaksson, 2 Matias Concha, 5 Erik Edman, 4 Petter Hansson, 3 Olof Mellberg, 16 Kim Kallstrom A Johansson 85), 6 Tobias Linderoth, 8 Anders Svensson, 7 Christian Wilhelmsson (M Nilsson 45), 11 Johan Elmander (M Allback 73), 10 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Subs: 12 Rami Shaaban, 14 Daniel Majstorovic, 13 Mikael Nilsson, 15 Andreas Johansson,9 Fredrik Ljungberg, 17 Marcus Allback, 18 Markus Rosenberg
Norn Iron: 1 Maik Taylor, 5 Stephen Craigan, 18 Aaron Hughes, 2 Gareth McAuley, 3 George McCartney (T Capaldi 87), 11 Chris Brunt, 6 Sammy Clingan, 8 Steven Davis, 9 David Healy, 10 Kyle Lafferty, 7 Ivan Sproule 7
Substitutes: 12 Alan Mannus, 15 Tony Capaldi, 13 Sean Webb, 4 Grant McCann, 16 Steve Robinson, 17 Gary Hamilton, 14 Steve Jones
Yellow Cards: Lafferty (19), Concha (45), Hansson (82)
Attendance: 33,112
Ref: Bertrand Layec (France)
HDMOTM: Laffers
Subs:
T Capaldi for G McCartney (87)
M Allback for J Elmander (73)
A Johansson for K Kallstrom (85)
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