Northern Ireland boss John Schofield hailed Spain as the best Under 21 team in the world after they trounced his side 6-0 in Larne yesterday.
The Spaniards put on a scintillating display at Inver Park with goals from Abel Ruiz, Rodrigo Riquelme, Juan Miranda, Victor Gómez, and a brace from Bryan Gil.
The defeat ended Northern Ireland's slim hopes of qualifying for the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Romania and Georgia next year, while the visitors were already guaranteed to top the group.
Read more: Man City teenager surprised by NI debut but eager for more opportunities and caps
Northern Ireland face Lithuania in their final Group C fixture on Tuesday but Under 21 boss Schofield says it's unlikely anyone in world football will be as difficult an opponent as Spain.
The Yorkshireman said: "We've got a young side. There's players playing at this level for the first, second or third time, and we have to be honest: what a fantastic team we've just played against.
"But ultimately we, as a group, want to be successful. We have to find a way of staying in the game. After the game what I said to the boys was if we consistently play in a shape and believe in the shape, out of possession, we'll give ourselves a chance to create opportunities and score goals.
"At times, we've done it against arguably the best under-21s group that you're going to play against. So if we do that against lesser nations we're obviously going to give ourselves a better chance."
Leeds United's Charlie Allen and Rotherham United's Ciaran McGuckin, who came on as a sub, made their U21 debuts on Friday, while 18-year-old Dungannon Swifts midfielder Terry Devlin caught the eye and had NI's best chance in the opening minutes.
Spain boasted three full internationals in their starting eleven, including classy Braga goalscorer Ruiz, and Real Betis left-back Miranda, who chipped in with a goal and two assists.
Tottenham Hotspur fans will be pleased to see Gil, another full cap who spent last season on loan at Valencia, in amongst the goals.
La Roja hit the bar four times in a frantic first half and Schofield admitted his players looked nervous in the rare moments when they had the ball.
Schofield said: "The first thing you look at is the scoreline. We always talk about wanting to win games and we've just got to keep working on the belief that we need to have in how we're going to play.
"On several occasions when we believed in it, and were relaxed and calm enough, we've created chances. At 1-0, as staff, if you're not playing in the game you're nice and calm and relaxed. On the pitch we were a bit uptight and tense.
"They scored three quick goals and all of a sudden we looked relaxed on the pitch and started playing football."
The squad travel to Lithuania today [SATURDAY] and will hope to secure third place in the group with a win in Alytus, although they could also finish as low as fifth if they lose, with Russia rooted to the bottom after being booted out of UEFA competitions.
Eight of Ian Baraclough's senior squad are still eligible for this U21 campaign, while the likes of Everton's Isaac Price - who made his Premier League debut last month - Rangers defender Kyle McClelland and Fleetwood Town midfielder Carl Johnston were unavailable for selection.
Schofield said: "They're not available for various reasons. At this time of the year, after a lot of them have had a long hard season they have little niggles.
"They're at a sort of age where if they are carrying injuries and they don't get them right now then they can potentially keep coming back throughout their career so we just have to be careful with that.
"Part of our remit is to get players ready to be available for the seniors. What that does is it gives you a chance to bring the younger players through and give them an opportunity. We're at the end of a campaign and we're entering our transition period with a new group of players coming together.
"You look at the scoreline and we're massively disappointed but you can see the moments in the game where we have to do things on a more consistent basis. Definitely, against sides not up to the calibre of Spain, we're going to get our rewards."
Read more: Manchester City teenager Shea Charles is at home with Northern Ireland, insists Ian Baraclough
Read more: Glentoran new boy: Mick McDermott and Paul Millar made me feel wanted
Sign up to our free sports newsletter to get the latest headlines to your inbo
