Northern Ireland keeper McGovern tipped to win European move after inspired Germany display

His vital blocks ensured that Michael O’Neill’s side only lost 1-0 against Joachim Loew’s team in their final Group C outing - and subsequently progressed to the last 16 of the competition due to having a superior goal difference to Albania and Turkey.

McGovern, the former Ross County and Falkirk player who started his career at Celtic, is out of contract at New Douglas Park at the end of June and has admitted that he is keen to play at as high a level as possible in future.

Mark Warburton, the Rangers manager, has revealed that he will look to bring in another keeper when Cammy Bell leaves the Ibrox club and he has been linked with McGovern during the summer. But Matt Gilks, the former Scotland keeper, is his preferred target.

However, Armstrong, who won a transfer to La Liga outfit Real Mallorca on the back of his displays for Northern Ireland at the World Cup in 1982, believes his compatriot will attract interest from across the continent as a result of his individual showing against Germany.

“No doubt about it, Michael has put himself in the shop window with his display against Germany,” he said. “He has increased his chances of moving to a club at a higher level than Hamilton. He was certainly playing at a far higher level against Germany and handled the step up very well. His standards were very high.

“A lot of people at the game in Paris last night were very surprised to find out that he played for Hamilton in Scotland. He did himself proud. I am sure there are going to be a lot of clubs getting in touch when the Euros are over on the back of his display.

“I played with Pat Jennings with Northern Ireland and he used to pull off saves like the ones that Michael produced all the time. Michael saved headers, he saved shots with both hands, he saved shots with his body, he saved shots with his feet.

“I didn’t see him make a single mistake which is to his enormous credit. He has gained tremendous experience as a result of his involvement in the Euros which will be to his benefit.”

Armstrong added: “Roy Carroll was the first choice keeper at the start of the qualifying campaign. Michael only came in towards the end of the campaign. I saw him play in the friendly against Scotland at Hampden last year and he did very well. He has never let anybody down since when he has been called upon.

“Truth be told, we were a bit lucky against Germany. We did ride our luck. But the determination and attitude and spirit that we showed were fantastic. But our goalkeeper was brilliant. He made eight saves in total which is just incredible.

“The fact we only lost by a single goal meant that we had a good chance of going through and when Turkey beat the Czech Republic we knew we had progressed thanks to having a superior goal difference. It was a great moment.”

Armstrong helped Northern Ireland draw with both Yugoslavia and Honduras, beat hosts Spain, who he scored the winning goal against, and top their qualifying group at the World Cup back in 1982.

Billy Bingham’s side failed to progress to the semi-finals of the competition when they lost 4-1 to France in the second group stage.

Armstrong, now a respected television pundit who is working at the Euro 2016 finals as a co-commentator with the BBC, admitted that watching his country make it through to the qualifying rounds of a major tournament for the first time in 34 years had been an emotional experience for him and his compatriots.

“I had always hoped that I would see it happen again,” he said. “Thirty four years has been long enough. I was hoping to see it long before that. But I am so pleased for the players, the supporters and the manager. I think Michael has done a fantastic job in his time in charge.

“Getting to the finals was a great achievement in itself. Getting through the group stages and into the knockout rounds has just capped everything. Whatever happens from now on is a bonus.”