MICHAEL O’NEILL hailed a ‘‘huge result’’ for his Northern Ireland side after they held a star-studded Portugal side to a 1-1 draw on home turf.

O’Neill has had precious little to celebrate since taking over as Northern Ireland boss at the turn of the year, most recently seeing his men take just a point against lowly Luxembourg at Windsor Park.

But he could scarcely conceal his pride after seeing his side come within touching distance of a famous win at Porto’s Dragao Stadium.

Niall McGinn gave the visitors a shock lead against the run of play after half-an-hour and, despite dominating possession, Portugal had to wait until the 80th minute for Helder Postiga to equalise.

Reflecting on a hugely-impressive result that reinvigorates his side’s World Cup campaign, O’Neill said: ‘‘I’m hugely proud of the effort and what the players gave us tonight.

‘‘I think we saw a huge amount of character in this team.

‘‘It’s a huge result. I don’t tend to get carried away and the main thing for me is that regardless of the result, I was proud to stand there tonight and be their manager.

‘‘That’s because of what they gave to the cause and to each other.’’ The Group F match was supposed to be all about Cristiano Ronaldo, who was presented with his 100th cap in a pre-match ceremony involving Luis Figo, but Michael O’Neill’s men took the lead.

Ronaldo, and his illustrious team-mates, dominated possession and chances both before and after that but had to wait until the 80th minute for Postiga to turn home.