LINFIELD’S motto ‘Audaces Fortuna Juvat’ may be appropriate for Northern Ireland, despite this being an away qualifier.
In the city of Fortuna Koln the visitors will have to hope that ‘fortune favours the brave’ as they face their wounded hosts.
Germany’s shock 2-0 loss away to Slovakia on Thursday night was only their fourth ever World Cup qualifier defeat, so the prospect of suffering a fifth will surely not be tolerated.
Serge Gnabry bagged a hat-trick in Germany’s 6-1 European Qualifers win over Northern Ireland in November 2019.
The only previous time NI played in Cologne, in 1977, was a friendly.
This will not be friendly. In any case, that game ended 5-0 to the then West Germany.
Michael O’Neill’s men would surely have settled for a point in advance of this group commencing – and now would be doubly delighted with a single addition to the three they collected with their 3-1 opening victory in Luxembourg.
Counter-intuitively, though, some of the usual Windsor Park attitude and approach may be required to avoid defeat.
NI can’t be expected to go at Germany from the outset, but some ‘front foot football’ may be the way to take something from these increasingly testing circumstances.
The manager made that point – rather forcefully, by all accounts – at half-time on Thursday night, with the sides level at 1-1.
Northern Ireland’s Ethan Galbraith, right, celebrates with team-mate Shea Charles (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP) (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/STR)
The result? A goal from defensive midfielder Shea Charles inside the first minute of the second half (albeit with the assistance of a significant upwards deflection).
On Sunday night the visitors will have to push Germany back at times; they cannot go 90-plus minutes trying to hold out.
It’s not in Northern Ireland’s nature to sit back, even if they had to do that on ‘Michael McGovern Day’ at Euro 2016, which ended in a 1-0 defeat.
That is one of nine consecutive losses to Germany, after a remarkable run of five games and 14 years (20 if you count from 1977 to 1997) without defeat.
Famously there were even two wins for the men in green, both 1-0, both goals coming from Ian Stewart, in 1982 and then 1983 in Hamburg.
Even then, the Germans still qualified for Euro ’84. It’s what they do.
Their hosts’ opening setback has obviously made this a more difficult encounter – but it’s not as daunting as it often was in the past.
Back in 1977 West Germany were the World Cup-holders and had reached the Euro ’76 final, only to be defeated in a shoot-out by the original Panenka penalty kick.
In 2016 (when the teams met twice, and again in 2017), Germany again were champions of the world.
The current German side are below that standard.
Indeed, they have now lost three consecutive matches (admittedly the other two against Portugal and France) and have only won one of their last six outings; again, admittedly that was away to Italy, helping them secure the spot in this qualifying group.
They also lack an experienced international goalkeeper, with Manuel Neuer still injured and Marc-Andre ter Stegen not involved, so 35-year-old Oliver Baumann won only his fifth cap in Bratislava.
Still, they do have players at top clubs, including Real Madrid centre half Antonio Rudiger and Liverpool playmaker Florian Wirtz.
Bayern Munich provide versatile skipper Joshua Kimmich and fellow midfielder Leon Goretzka, centre back Jonathan Tah, and wide attacker Serge Gnabry.
Newcastle’s new signing Nick Woltemade watched on from the stands at Elland Road (Nigel French/PA)
Their attack against Slovakia was led by new Newcastle United centre-forward Nick Woltemade, and they also have the option of another, less skilful, giant, in the imposing form of West Ham’s Niclas Fullkrug.
The latter appears cumbersome but he has netted 14 goals in 24 senior appearances. In the absence of the injured Jamal Musiala (Bayern) and Kai Havertz (Arsenal), the bulk of the goal threat in the German team in Slovakia came from Goretzka and Gnabry.
Of course, goals are always at a premium for Northern Ireland, but at least Jamie Reid continued his fine club form with quick reactions to net after the recently reliable Isaac Price’s penalty was parried out.
A first senior strike for Shea Charles, and the same for Justin Devenny will boost their confidence.
Slovakia allowed Germany only four attempts on target, with six awry and three more blocked.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Germany international Florian Wirtz has joined Liverpool (Bradley Collyer/PA)
NI will have to limit their opponents similarly, with Conor Bradley likely to come up against his new club-mate Wirtz on the left of the German attack, although captain Trai Hume is a solid presence at right centre-back.
With the experienced Paddy McNair and Eoin Toal expected to make up the other centre backs, O’Neill has quality in defence.
Ahead of them, Ali McCann was understandably reluctant to tackle after a harsh yellow card, which contributed to the Luxembourg goal.
Ethan Galbraith impressed as a midfield creator, but there may be a case for the greater experience and solidity of George Saville.
However, there’s no pressure on Michael O’Neill. All the expectation is piled on Julian Nagelsmann and ‘Die Mannschaft’.
There’ll be more than a whiff of tension in the Cologne air.
Twenty years to the day since the astonishing 1-0 win over England…no, let’s not go there…
But the longer NI can go without conceding, the more likely that they can enjoy the sweet smell of success, which is what a draw would undoubtedly represent.