U21 EURO 2023 Qualifier Preview: Republic of Ireland -v- Bosnia & Herzegovina

• Simon O'Gorman
• Fri, Jun 03 2022




REPUBLIC OF IRELAND U21

Tonight at Tallaght Stadium the Republic of Ireland under-21 team will face Bosnia & Herzegovina in a crucial Group F qualifying match for the UEFA 2023 European Championship (kick-off 7.30 pm)

Ireland have played seven of their ten qualifiers and lie third in the Group behind leaders Sweden and second placed Italy. But with games on hand over Sweden it’s possible that by that the end of the Bank Holiday weekend Jim Crawford’s men could be top of the table.

That would require wins against Bosnia & Herzegovina tonight and against Montenegro at the same venue on Monday evening (kick-off 5pm), as well as Italy failing to beat Luxembourg in three days time.

Even if, as expected, Italy take three points from Luxembourg, they must then play current Group  leaders Sweden before facing Ireland in the final game of the qualifiers, in Italy, on Tuesday 14 June.

Crawford’s squad includes ten players from Premier League clubs as well as from Scottish, German and League of Ireland teams. His initial selection was boosted by the late inclusion of Derby County’s Eiran Cashin, whose international paperwork came through just in time.

All three of Crawford’s goalkeepers are from the domestic game with David Harrington of Cork City getting his first call up at this level. Brian Maher of Derry City and Luke McNicholas are also included.

Shamrock Rovers’ Andy Lyons, Dawson Devoy of Bohemians, Darragh Burns of St Patrick’s Athletic and Liam Kerrigan of UCD make up the rest of the LOI contingent.

Speaking ahead of the game Crawford said: “There’s certainly momentum with us. We played Sweden at home and won 1-0 and played them away and won 2-0. You’re keeping clean sheets and scoring from open play, there is that momentum with us.

“It’s not about what causes momentum but who drives it. Top players create momentum and we spoke about this in our first meeting in the camp and since then the lads have been excellent in training.” 

There may also be some momentum in the stands and the timing for this series of qualifiers couldn’t be better.

With the League of Ireland on a mid-season break and with English football having just pulled the shutters down on their season, it’s a perfect opportunity for the under-21s to capture the imagination of a football community who just happen to looking around for something to do this Bank Holiday weekend.

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA U21

Bosnia & Herzegovina come into this game just two points behind the Irish team but while Ireland have three games to play, including this one, this will be the Bosnian’s final match of their campaign.

Even if they beat Ireland in Tallaght Stadium they still won’t be able to overhaul Italy and grab a play-off place by finishing second.

The visitors started their campaign with an away point against Montenegro back in March of last year, and then lost 2-0 to Jim Crawford’s side last September.

Since then they have drawn with Sweden, beaten Montenegro at home and done the double over Luxembourg. They were also beaten twice by Italy, by a one goal margin on both occasions, and suffered a 4-0 defeat to Sweden.

All of which represents healthy mid-table fare, and while Ireland will be quietly confident of taking three points from them Irish defender Lee O’Connor sounded a note of caution.

“I think they [Bosnia & Herzegovina] are a good team”, he said. “It was a good win for us out there and a good performance from us but they are dangerous and they had their chances and they were organised, as all good teams are, so it will be another test for us.” 

Referee: Luca Cibelli (Switzerland)

MATCH STATS

Milan Savic and Ivan Basic share the top-scoring honours in the Bosnia & Herzegovina squad with two each from their nine qualifying games.

Both teams have so far scored nine goals in their Group F matches, but while Ireland have conceded just five, Bosnia & Herzegovina have let in 13.

PREDICTION

Republic of Ireland 2-1 Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Republic of Ireland 

Injured: None.

Doubtful: None.

Suspended: None.

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Injured: None.

Doubtful: None.

Suspended: None.

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