under 19 qualifiers

[liamoo11]

What's Carruthers like? Didn't he turn down a contract whilst at Arsenal to move to Villa?

he did i think was surprised he committed to ireland this year. Villa really is a hotbed for irish youth internationals. Carruthers is light, technically good and not fast. I think sullivan is an interesting player as an attacking midfielder eligible next year not alot of talk about him since he won under 16 player of year a few years ago.

[paul_oshea]

Italy beat Poland so we have to beat Italy now. Bit of this would be good... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXauYVy_dws

Wow, you have something special there, use it well.

[DannyInvincible]

Commentary never gets old.

"It's Roy Houghton, and again England go with the long-ball, over the top."
"It's a chipper!"

[Bungle]

http://www.uefa.com/under19/matches/season=2011/live/day=32/session=1/match=2004691/matchcenterlight/index.html

say your prayers lads :cool:

[AlaskaFox]

2-0. Murphy and Murray. 62 mins.

[Bungle]

Given we're missing a few players, this is brilliant from the lads!!

[Bungle]

3-0 to Ireland :)

[geysir]

Brilliant stuff.
Does that mean we are in the Finals or is there another hurdle to jump?

[Bungle]

No we've 7 points, Italy have 6 points so we win the group!! We haven't conceded a goal thus far and that's without McGinty and Keane. We're in the finals unless we capitulate.

[greendeiseboy]

Great result - Italians had 2 sent off in the last few minutes as well

[AlaskaFox]

Held in Romania from 20 July to 1 August 2011. Anyone going?

[tommy_c12000]

Terrific result for the Irish! Well done to the lads!

[Bungle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4xl_FgEwrg&feature=related
Hopefully Christy makes one up for Romania!

[DannyInvincible]

That's a fantastic result. Italy were the pot 1 team as well. Very impressive stuff. What would our chances be like in the finals?

[Stuttgart88]

Fantastic. It even got a mention on RTE's website :)

Weren't there quite a few criticising Doolin's appointment?

[tetsujin1979]

Excellent result, great news ahead of the game tonight.
Congratulations to team and management

[geysir]

Doolin's managerial chequebook and hoofball tactics certainly works wonders with the youths against the cream of European football :rolleyes:

[cornflakes]

Us, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Serbia and Romania so far. Two groups left to complete, one with England, Spain, Switzerland and Montenegro and the other group with Germany, Turkey, Macedonia and Hungary.

So no France, Holland or Portugal who are usually strong at this level. Maybe we'll have a decent chance

[Razors left peg]

Fantastic. It even got a mention on RTE's website :)

Weren't there quite a few criticising Doolin's appointment?
Yep and i was one of the loudest critics at the time... delighted to admit I was wrong

[gastric]

Match summary here - great result. I didn't think they would win, but they kicked arse today! performance.

http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=101806:web-flash-ireland-qualify-for-under-19-uefa-finals&catid=4:under-19&Itemid=12

[elroy]

Only heard about the result at the game last night. Great stuff, congrats to all involved. Also good to see the youth doing well.

That lad Murray, at Watford? Thought he was at Ipswich or am I thinking of a different Murray.

[tetsujin1979]

That lad Murray, at Watford? Thought he was at Ipswich or am I thinking of a different Murray.
yeah, it's Ronan Murray at Ipswich

[Charlie Darwin]

Beating Italy 3-0 at any level is no easy feat. Well done Paul Doolin and the squad.

[Stuttgart88]

Are the goals available to see anywhere?

[mark12345]

Beating Italy 3-0 at any level is no easy feat. Well done Paul Doolin and the squad.

I remember back in the day when the team containing Duff, Keane, Jim Goodwin et al went to the semi-finals of the U-20 World Cup in Malaysia. I didn't see it live but in anticipation of seeing the tape was full sure that Brian Kerr's team would be playing some scintillating passing game. I was sadly disappointed.

Did anyone see Paul Doolin's young lads? And if they did, has anything changed? Are the Irish youngsters playing a better brand of football or is it still hoof ball?

[Sullivinho]

Beating Italy 3-0 at any level is no easy feat.

Unless catenaccio has fallen spectacularly out of fashion, putting 3 past them is some achievement too.

Hopefully the finals will be broadcast on Eurosport or something like that.

[Magicme]

Good interview with ROI U19 'keeper Aaron McCarey and piece on Wolves involvement in the squad here (http://m.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wolves.co.uk%2Fpage%2FNew s%2F0%2C%2C10307%7E2369686%2C00.html&h=07ac7&refid=0)

Fair play to Aaron on his 3 clean sheets, dead proud of him we are!

[liamoo11]

Piece in the sunday independent today by eamon sweeney about the 19s qualifying. All focused on where they were born for some reason with no discussion about ability/potential. Mentioned Mcginty wil be due back but no mention of Brady! Good to see it getting mention but embarrassingly bad effort

[gastric]

Piece in the sunday independent today by eamon sweeney about the 19s qualifying. All focused on where they were born for some reason with no discussion about ability/potential. Mentioned Mcginty wil be due back but no mention of Brady! Good to see it getting mention but embarrassingly bad effort

Can't find it - anyone got a link?

[Predator]

There was a small piece in last Sunday's Sunday Times too. It compares Doolin's achievement to that of Brian Kerr's and noted the wide spread of the players's origins. No mention of Derry's contribution though, which was disappointing, but there was time to praise 'star defender', McGinty, who pulled out of the squad to play for United.

[liamoo11]

Will be interesting alright to see if Derrys Duffy and McEleaney are forgiven and come into the reckoning for Julys finals

[SwanVsDalton]

Just saw on MNS' Facebook page we've been drawn in a group with Greece, Czech Rep and Romania, the hosts. Anyone confirm? What's our chances against this lot?

[AlaskaFox]

Just saw on MNS' Facebook page we've been drawn in a group with Greece, Czech Rep and Romania, the hosts. Anyone confirm? What's our chances against this lot?

Can indeed confirm:
http://greenscene.me/2011/06/republic-of-ireland-drawn-in-u19-euro-2011-group-a/

[IsMiseSean]

Anyone know if this will be shown on Eurosport? They normally cover underage tournaments...

[AlaskaFox]

Eurosport had 9 of the 15 games last year. No word on this year yet though.

[DannyInvincible]

I reckon we're in the weaker of the two groups. Both Greece and the Czechs were pot D teams for the elite qualification round (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_UEFA_European_Under-19_Football_Championship_elite_qualification) draw. We were in pot B, if that's anything to go by. Obviously, Romania qualified automatically. Greece finished ahead of France in their elite round group with three wins out of three whilst the Czechs finished ahead of Russia and the Netherlands with seven points.

In the first qualification round (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_UEFA_European_Under-19_Football_Championship_qualification), Greece scraped through their group in second place with four points after losing to Georgia and drawing with Portugal but beating Azerbaijan. That victory put them through to the elite round over Azerbaijan, who had a superior goal difference of two goals, on head-to-head results. The Czechs, meanwhile, only qualified for the elite round as one of the two best third-placed teams. They finished behind Belarus and Macedonia in their group.

At least we avoided Spain. They're in the other group with Serbia, Belgium and Turkey. Serbia and Belgium were both pot A for the elite qualification round draw with Turkey in pot B.

[DannyInvincible]

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2011/0608/under19.html


Doolin said afterwards: 'I'm happy enough with the draw. Looking at the groups, people could say that ours is the easier of the two but we must respect all of the nations for getting to this finals stage of the tournament.

'Romania, as hosts, will be difficult to beat, especially in the hot July temperatures, while Greece were one of only two nations out of the seven elite stage groups to finish with a maximum nine points from their three games.

'Czech Republic will be a decent side too and have a great record at underage level.'

He added: 'No matter who we were drawn against, I knew we were going to be in a tough group. Now that we know our opposition, I will look at what gives us the best opportunity in terms of preparation.

'My plan is to stage a pre-tournament training camp somewhere warm abroad to help the players acclimatise to the hot conditions they can expect to face in Romania.'

The dates for the group games are 20, 23 and 26 July, with the semi-finals three days later and the final on 1 August.

[Charlie Darwin]

I reckon we're in the weaker of the two groups. Both Greece and the Czechs were pot D teams for the elite qualification round (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_UEFA_European_Under-19_Football_Championship_elite_qualification) draw. We were in pot B, if that's anything to go by. Obviously, Romania qualified automatically. Greece finished ahead of France in their elite round group with three wins out of three whilst the Czechs finished ahead of Russia and the Netherlands with seven points.
Doesn't that just mean they navigated more difficult routes? Doesn't necessarily mean they're weaker, especially at underage level where there's not as much continuity.

[DannyInvincible]

Doesn't that just mean they navigated more difficult routes? Doesn't necessarily mean they're weaker, especially at underage level where there's not as much continuity.

I guess. It's difficult to say for certain and possibly we shouldn't read into how teams fared in qualification too much, although Doolin seems to think we're in the easier of the two groups and, looking at the paths of all teams, the results might be indicative of relative strength. Not saying they are, necessarily, but they're surely worth considering.

Group A

Belgium: 2 wins and 1 draw in elite stage; 3 wins in first stage; 16 points and +8 GD overall.
Serbia: 2 wins and 1 loss in elite stage; 3 wins in first stage, including a victory over us; 15 points and +14 GD overall.
Spain: 2 wins and 1 draw in elite stage; 3 wins in first stage; 16 points and +16 GD overall.
Turkey: 3 wins in elite stage; 2 wins and 1 draw in first stage; 16 points and +13 GD overall.

Group B

Czech Republic: 2 wins and 1 draw in elite stage; 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss in first stage; 11 points and +4 GD overall.
Greece: 3 wins in elite stage; 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss in first stage; 13 points and +3 GD overall.
Us: 2 wins and 1 draw in elite stage; 2 wins and 1 loss in first stage; 13 points and +9 GD overall.
Romania: Qualified automatically.

All teams in group A came through qualification undefeated with very impressive goal tallies, whereas none of the teams in our group did, including ourselves. In saying that, Greece did work their way through the elite stage with maximum points.

[Charlie Darwin]

Those goal differences are quite imposing. Still, the higher the ranking of your opponents, the less likely you are to bag more goals. All teams have shown the ability to win games so it's an even enough playing field on that score.

[Predator]

The Serbia versus Spain match should be tasty enough, just look at the goal difference. I remember following our game against Serbia and they appeared to be an extremely physical side, so that would contrast with the type of football Spain seem to be encouraging.

It'll be interesting to see if Doolin's squad stays the same, considering their success. Will he want to disrupt by bringing back some of the more experienced players?

[ltfc_2004]

I would imagine he will call a large number into the training camp and pick the squad from that. All players know the story if your in a team and a better player comes back, you will more than likely be dropped. Its up to them to prove their worth and try and stay in the squad.

On a marginal call I would hope Doolin would go with the guys who went to Poland for the qualifiers. Although would it be cheeky to call Ferguson up for the finals ? !!!

[Alf Honn]

I would imagine he will call a large number into the training camp and pick the squad from that. All players know the story if your in a team and a better player comes back, you will more than likely be dropped. Its up to them to prove their worth and try and stay in the squad.

On a marginal call I would hope Doolin would go with the guys who went to Poland for the qualifiers. Although would it be cheeky to call Ferguson up for the finals ? !!!

Jaysus, hope he doesn't. We'd be dumped out for playing an overage player.

Shane Kevin Ferguson. Date of birth, 12 July 1991.

[ltfc_2004]

Indeed I just remembered him being 19 wasn't sure of his DOB, seems 01/01/92 is cut off point