UEFA U19 Championship Preview
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
Paul Doolin’s Irish U19 side have arrived in Bucharest ahead of the UEFA U19 Championship finals and are ready for their opening Group A assignment against Greece tomorrow evening (kick-off 7pm Irish time).
After spending a week in Rome to prepare for the championships, an 18-man squad are now set up in the Romanian capital and after an impressive qualifying campaign that yielded three straight clean-sheets in the elite phase, Doolin’s side will hope to be as watertight at the back.
Key to that run of clean-sheets was John Egan, the Sunderland defender who is originally from Cork. Egan is also captain of the side in Romania and is expecting a tough challenge despite being drawn in what many consider to be the easier of the two groups.
"Some of the pundits think that we may have been dealt with an easier group at these finals, missing out on the big teams such as Spain and Turkey but I can guarantee that every player in this squad are mindful of the threat that teams such as Czech Republic, Greece and the hosts, Romania possess" Egan said.
“With just eight teams at these finals, every team are here on merit and we will not be taking anybody for granted.”
After tomorrow evening’s meeting with Greece, Ireland face Czech Republic three days later, with their final group game against the hosts on Tuesday 26th, but Egan is solely concentrating on the Greeks.
"All of our preparation for this tournament so far has centred around our first game against Greece on Wednesday. It doesn't matter what stage of the competition we have been in, if it was the first or elite qualifying phase, we have always concentrated fully on our first game and getting a positive result.
“It is important to start the tournament strongly and a win or a draw would get us one step closer to a semi final spot while building confidence in the squad sets us up nicely for the tournament.
“However, getting a positive result will be not be an easy task as Greece are an extremely talented side especially after they knocked a strong French side out in the elite qualifying phase,” added Egan, who will be partnered in the heart of defence with fellow Corkman Anthony O’Connor.
The highlight of qualification was a 3-0 win against Italy in May in a game they needed to win to secure qualification and with two teams coming out of each group, if Ireland can match the heights of that performance, they will fancy their chances of reaching the last four.
While those three goals came as a welcome surprise, the real strong point of Ireland’s run to the finals was how they defended as a unit and Egan thinks the spirit within the camp is a big ingredient to their success.
"The mentality of this group is absolutely phenomenal. I can 100% say that there are no individuals in this squad; it is just 18 close friends who work hard for each other and for Paul (Doolin) and our management team.
“We all have confidence in our own ability and we will not fear anybody at this tournament. Following our trip to Italy last week, we are eager for the first game to kick-off and make everybody at home proud of us at the UEFA Championship finals," Egan added.
The only League of Ireland representative is Bray Wanderers striker Conor Murphy.
Squad: Samir Carruthers (Aston Villa), Matt Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers), John Egan (Sunderland), Kane Ferdinand (Southend United), Anthony Forde (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Hendrick (Derby County), Kevin Knight (unattached),Aaron McCarey (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Sean McDermott (Arsenal), Conor Murphy (Bray Wanderers), Sean Murray (Watford), John O' Sullivan (Blackburn Rovers) Anthony O'Connor (Blackburn Rovers), Joe Shaughnessy (Aberdeen), Connor Smith (Watford), Declan Walker (Wrexham), Eoin Wearen (West Ham United), Derrick Williams (Aston Villa).
Republic of Ireland Group A fixtures:
July 20th v Greece, 7pm
July 23rd v Czech Republic, 5pm (Live on Eurosport)
July 26th v Romania, 5pm
After spending a week in Rome to prepare for the championships, an 18-man squad are now set up in the Romanian capital and after an impressive qualifying campaign that yielded three straight clean-sheets in the elite phase, Doolin’s side will hope to be as watertight at the back.
Key to that run of clean-sheets was John Egan, the Sunderland defender who is originally from Cork. Egan is also captain of the side in Romania and is expecting a tough challenge despite being drawn in what many consider to be the easier of the two groups.
"Some of the pundits think that we may have been dealt with an easier group at these finals, missing out on the big teams such as Spain and Turkey but I can guarantee that every player in this squad are mindful of the threat that teams such as Czech Republic, Greece and the hosts, Romania possess" Egan said.
“With just eight teams at these finals, every team are here on merit and we will not be taking anybody for granted.”
After tomorrow evening’s meeting with Greece, Ireland face Czech Republic three days later, with their final group game against the hosts on Tuesday 26th, but Egan is solely concentrating on the Greeks.
"All of our preparation for this tournament so far has centred around our first game against Greece on Wednesday. It doesn't matter what stage of the competition we have been in, if it was the first or elite qualifying phase, we have always concentrated fully on our first game and getting a positive result.
“It is important to start the tournament strongly and a win or a draw would get us one step closer to a semi final spot while building confidence in the squad sets us up nicely for the tournament.
“However, getting a positive result will be not be an easy task as Greece are an extremely talented side especially after they knocked a strong French side out in the elite qualifying phase,” added Egan, who will be partnered in the heart of defence with fellow Corkman Anthony O’Connor.
The highlight of qualification was a 3-0 win against Italy in May in a game they needed to win to secure qualification and with two teams coming out of each group, if Ireland can match the heights of that performance, they will fancy their chances of reaching the last four.
While those three goals came as a welcome surprise, the real strong point of Ireland’s run to the finals was how they defended as a unit and Egan thinks the spirit within the camp is a big ingredient to their success.
"The mentality of this group is absolutely phenomenal. I can 100% say that there are no individuals in this squad; it is just 18 close friends who work hard for each other and for Paul (Doolin) and our management team.
“We all have confidence in our own ability and we will not fear anybody at this tournament. Following our trip to Italy last week, we are eager for the first game to kick-off and make everybody at home proud of us at the UEFA Championship finals," Egan added.
The only League of Ireland representative is Bray Wanderers striker Conor Murphy.
Squad: Samir Carruthers (Aston Villa), Matt Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers), John Egan (Sunderland), Kane Ferdinand (Southend United), Anthony Forde (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Hendrick (Derby County), Kevin Knight (unattached),Aaron McCarey (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Sean McDermott (Arsenal), Conor Murphy (Bray Wanderers), Sean Murray (Watford), John O' Sullivan (Blackburn Rovers) Anthony O'Connor (Blackburn Rovers), Joe Shaughnessy (Aberdeen), Connor Smith (Watford), Declan Walker (Wrexham), Eoin Wearen (West Ham United), Derrick Williams (Aston Villa).
Republic of Ireland Group A fixtures:
July 20th v Greece, 7pm
July 23rd v Czech Republic, 5pm (Live on Eurosport)
July 26th v Romania, 5pm
About Alan Smith
Alan Smith works as a sub-editor for the Guardian newspaper in London. Originally from Cork, he freelances for several other newspapers and websites. Follow him on twitter @alansmith90. View Full Profile