\n<\/p>\n
O’Neill was delighted with Northern Ireland’s start on a warm and sticky night in Palma, when Ballard headed home a free-kick from debutant Caolan Boyd-Munce.<\/p>\n
With Euro 2024 around the corner, O’Neill said he knew facing a “highly motivated” Spain would be “difficult” for his young team, who drew with Romania and defeated Scotland in March’s two fixtures.<\/p>\n
“We couldn’t have started the game any better with the goal and we worked hard on set-pieces, making sure we could use them well,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We just didn’t defend our box. On the first goal, we could do better on Pedri but it’s a real piece of quality for the finish. <\/p>\n
“For the other goals we don’t defend crosses, it’s as simple as that.”<\/p>\n
Despite the heavy scoreline, O’Neill said the game will benefit his young squad as he looks to build the next generation for Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
“We have players in our group like Jonny and Corry [Evans] who have played in these games before and know what it’s like, but for our younger players we have exposed them to the top level of international football. <\/p>\n
“The goal gave us a great start and we looked on the front foot, but suddenly we were behind and we looked a little bit shocked by that,” said O’Neill, who added that Morata’s goal to give Spain the lead “knocked the confidence” of his team.<\/p>\n
“That’s part of the experience. We’re away from home against a top side, you have to stay in the game.”<\/p>\n
While Spain get ready for their Euro 2024 opener, Northern Ireland will travel to Murcia to take on Andorra on Tuesday in a match that should be vastly different to Saturday’s encounter.<\/p>\n
O’Neill expects his players to learn from the defeat and take that into the game against the minnows, who themselves were defeated 5-0 by Spain on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“It was difficult, but in the second half we made changes and freshened the team up, and we contained Spain,” O’Neill said.<\/p>\n
“The game maybe dropped a gear, which was natural with the heat and conditions, but we have to learn from this.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n