Pain for Northern Ireland

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Xavi's fortuitous second-half strike brought Northern Ireland's dreams to an end while Sweden beat Latvia 2-1 to rule out the Province's hopes anyway.

The Ulstermen ended their thrilling campaign on a relative low, with Xavi's long-range drive careering off Sammy Clingan's head to wrong-foot Maik Taylor.

It was an uphill task for the province now and Worthington reacted by bringing on Kyle Lafferty for Chris Brunt after 59 minutes.

Spain should have extended their lead two minutes later when substitute Joaquin pulled the ball back from the byline. It looked a tap-in for David Silva but he somehow managed to steer his shot wide of Taylor's post.

As Northern Ireland poured forward in search of an equaliser, more and more gaps were opening in their defence.

Taylor had to be sharp off his line to thwart the onrushing Joaquin five minutes from full-time as the Spaniards looked to kill of the game.