McConville Faces French Football Stars
Norwich City defender Ruairi McConville was in high class company for Northern Ireland's 3-1 friendly defeat to a star-studded France in Lille on Monday night.
Olise's Hat-Trick Highlights Match
McConville played the full 90 minutes but Bayern Munich's Michael Olise scored a hat-trick as Kylian Mbappe and co warmed up for their World Cup bid with a winning swansong on home soil.
Patrick Kelly briefly gave Michael O'Neill's visitors hope after Olise had struck twice in six second half minutes after the restart.
But the £150m rated wide player underlined why he is one of the hottest properties in world football with a stunning curling effort to seal the victory for Didier Deschamps' squad in front of 43,000 fans.
McConville's Tough Defensive Challenge
McConville started at the centre of a Northern Irish defence facing Mbappe, Olise and Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League winning duo Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue.
France's strength in depth was underlined with second half introductions for Manchester City's Rayan Cherki, Bradley Barcola and Chelsea's Malo Gusto.
McConville was kept busy by the side ranked third in the world, who had 67% possession and 24 shots on goal.
France begin their bid for a third World Cup trophy against Senegal on June 16. Iraq and Norway complete Group I. The Pink'un