Draws made for U17 & U19 Euro Championships
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The draws for the Elite Round of the 2012-13 UEFA U17 and U19 European Championships took place today at UEFA Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, along with the draws for the Qualifying Rounds of the 2013-14 UEFA U17 and U19 European Championship.
The Republic of Ireland U17s have been drawn in Group 2 of their Elite Round along with Serbia, Georgia and Austria who will host the mini-tournament next year from March 25 to 30. The group winners will qualify for the finals in Slovakia from May 5 to 17 with the top six teams going forward to the FIFA U17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates from October 17 to November 8, 2013.
The U19s have also been drawn in Group 2 in their Elite Round and will face Serbia, Slovakia and Switzerland. The mini-tournament will take place in Serbia from June 6 to 10 after their name was pulled out of a hat when agreement couldn’t be reached between the four nations on whether to play the group in Serbia or Ireland. The group winners will qualify for the finals in Lithuania from July 20 to August 1.
Both the U17sand U19s were second seeds in the Elite Round draws and were also second seeds in the draws for the qualifying rounds of the 2013-14 UEFA European Championships.
In the draws for the 2013-14 UEFA European Championships, Ireland’s U17s were draw in Group 7 with England, Armenia and newcomers Gibraltar with the tournament taking place in Armenia from October 24 to 29. The U19s are in Group 3 along with Bosnia, Azerbaijan and Sweden who will host the mini-tournament from October 10 to October 15.
The FAI was represented at today’s draws by Milo Corcoran, chairman of the FAI International Committee, U17 manager Tom Mohan and U19 manager Paul Doolin who was disappointed that Ireland’s bid to host the U19 Elite Round group had failed.
“The biggest disappointment for me is the fact that we lost out on hosting the group. I really wanted to have it at home but Serbia wanted to host it too and unfortunately their name was drawn out of the hat,” said Doolin.
“Belgrade in June will be hot but at least it is at the end of the season and we will be able to call on all out players. Serbia will be tough, especially at home, we know that Switzerland are good having played their U18s a few weeks ago and I saw Slovakia beat Macedonia 5-1 and 2-1 before we played Macedonia in our qualifying round.
Serbia, along with holders Spain and Turkey, got a bye into the Elite Round because of their high co-efficient while Switzerland finished five points behind Scotland in Group 9 after beating Armenia, drawing with Romania and losing 4-3 to the Scots. Slovakia finished third in Group 8 after finishing level on six points with Ukraine and Norway and qualified for the Elite Round as one of the best runners-up.
Ireland qualified for the U19 Elite Round after finishing level on points with Germany but losing out for top spot on goal difference in a qualifying group that also contained Macedonia and Luxembourg.
Mohan, in his first campaign, guided the U17s into the Elite Phase as joint winners after finishing level on points and everything else with Sweden in a group that also contained Romania and Macedonia. He is well aware that it is going to be tough to emerge from a Elite Round group that also contains Serbia, Georgia and hosts Austria.
“It is never going to be easy at this stage of the competition and Serbia will be very strong. They actually beat us at this stage of last year’s competition. Georgia were in last year’s U17 finals and actually got the semi-final and while I don’t know a lot about Austria, at this stage, they’ll have the advantage of playing at home. I am happy the group will be played in Austria because Georgia were pushing hard for it to be played out there,” said Mohan.
“We know now who we are up against and we can start preparing for those games. We’ll do that as well as we can and take it from there.”
Serbia topped Group 1 in the Qualifying Round with full points after wins over Belarus, Moldova and Armenia and didn’t concede a goal while scoring 16 over the three games. Georgia finished second in Group 13 behind Ukraine and ahead of Luxembourg and Scotland whom they beat 3-0. Austria finished second in Group 6, two points behind Switzerland, after beating the Faroe Islands and drawing with Cyprus and Switzerland.
UEFA U-17 European Championships
2012-13 Elite Round – Group 2
Serbia, Ireland, Georgia, Austria. Hosts: Austria
Match Schedule:
March 25: Republic of Ireland v Austria
March 27: Republic of Ireland v Georgia
March 30: Republic of Ireland v Serbia
2013-14 Qualifying Round – Group 7
Ireland, England, Gibraltar, Armenia. Hosts: Armenia
Match Schedule
October 24: Republic of Ireland v Gibraltar
October 26: Republic of Ireland v Armenia
October 29: Republic of Ireland v England
UEFA U19 European Championships
2012-13 Elite Round – Group 2
Serbia, Ireland, Slovakia, Switzerland. Hosts: Serbia
Match Schedule
June 6: Republic of Ireland v Switzerland
June 8: Republic of Ireland v Slovakia
June 11: Republic of Ireland v Serbia.
2013-14 Qualifying Round – Group 3
Ireland, Bosnia, Azerbaijan, Sweden. Hosts: Sweden
Match Schedule
October 10: Republic of Ireland v Azerbaijan
October 12: Republic of Ireland v Sweden
October 15: Republic of Ireland v Bosnia
