article: Michael O'Neill, the man who led them to France, talks to BBC Sport about their expectations for the tournament, how they have prepared, and his hopes of creating a 1982 World Cup-style legacy. I'm glad Euro 2016 is almost here. There has been a sense that it is never going to come and you're waiting and waiting. It's a huge thing to be there. When we won our first three qualifying games people really began to think we can do this. Then you feel there is a lot to lose because you feel it is possible. So to deliver qualification for the people of Northern Ireland was a huge achievement by the players. I'm delighted for the players who have had long careers and at times there have been difficult moments in those careers. Their loyalty alone has been rewarded by reaching Euro 2016. My message to the players is this is an experience we all have to enjoy. We don't want to come away with regrets. I don't want the players burdened by expectation but they have to grasp this opportunity. Leicester won this season's Premier League at odds of 5,000-1. Northern Ireland, the outsiders along with Albania, are 500-1 to win Euro 2016. It's amazing how football changes. In our third qualifier we beat Greece and Claudio Ranieri was the coach. He lost his job the following game. For him to come to the Premier League, at his stage of his career, and win it is an amazing achievement - the stuff of fairytales. There are similarities between Leicester and Northern Ireland when you look at the route a lot of the Leicester players took to get to where they are. We have lads who are at Fleetwood Town [Vardy's previous club]. In terms of how we play there are similarities, too. Hopefully the neutrals will see a nice humility and work ethic about our team. While we're realistic enough to think we're not going to win the tournament, hopefully we get that level of support where we get a huge groundswell of people willing us to do well, which takes us as far as we can go. O'Neill managed Scottish third tier side Brechin City from April 2006 until December 2008, when he became Shamrock Rovers boss. He led the Dublin club to two Irish titles and to the group stages of the Europa League. He left Rovers for the Northern Ireland job in December 2011 and recently signed a new four-year deal. I started my managerial career at the bottom. I had to go to a small club in Scotland who were part-time and I was working in financial services. I had an opportunity to go over to Shamrock Rovers. People thought that was a bit of a strange move but I felt it was a good opportunity. I didn't plan to be the national manager when it came around. I was 42 but I said to myself 'why not see where it takes me?'. It's been a huge challenge. There were difficult times in the first two
summary: Northern Ireland are preparing for their first ever European Championship finals, where they will face Poland, Ukraine and world champions Germany in Group C.