Gareth McAuley conceded it was mission impossible at times for Northern Ireland against Germany on Tuesday, even though the loss did not prevent them from progressing to the last 16 at Euro 2016.
Michael O'Neill's side were defeated 1-0 by the Germans in Paris, a scoreline which hid the dominance the reigning World Cup holders exerted over their opponents at the Parc des Princes.
Only a slew of saves from Michael McGovern prevented Northern Ireland from suffering a thrashing and McAuley came off the pitch fully appreciative of the world champions' brilliance.
"I was all right for the first two-and-a-half minutes! It was one of the toughest games of football I've played in a long, long time,'' he said.
"Their movement is incredible, the timing of their pass, the timing of their runs, the quality of the forward runners. It was impossible to compete with at times.
"Fortunately Micky was on absolute fire behind us and pulled off incredible last-ditch saves that kept us in the game, that kept us fighting.''
Northern Ireland have been accustomed to playing without the ball in France, though no side has ever had as much possession as Germany did, with 71 percent of the share owned by them.
And McAuley claimed that any hopes of Northern Ireland playing on the counter-attack were scuppered by the energy they expended in trying to get possession in the first place.
"They're certainly very, very good, it's the way they move the ball,'' he added.
"We wanted to play on the counter-attack but it's not very often they give the ball away so you can do that. They were stretching us and moving us about and making us run and run.
"When you do get the ball back after they've made you run that much you're tired and what can you do with it?''
Despite Germany's control, the narrow loss saw Northern Ireland progress three hours later due to a better goal difference than either Albania or Turkey.
The margin of loss ultimately proved crucial and it was a mark of the progress under O'Neill that they did not wilt under pressure in the manner Brazil did two years earlier when they were beaten 7-1 in a World Cup semifinal by the Germans.
"The progression over the last two-and-a-half years has been brilliant but the foundations were laid in the World Cup qualification group when players were playing in their first international arenas and learning,'' McAuley said.
"A lot of the lads have blossomed. It's a great time for Northern Irish football and to be involved.''