2022 UEFA European Under-17 Championship

[JR89]

1491079379945885698


Honved Budapest defender Ivan Savshak is a new addition with his first call up to the underage teams. Not sure if he's Irish born but did live in Dundalk at one stage.

[elatedscum]

Ivan has great hair. Deserves to be in the squad for his hair alone...

[tetsujin1979]

goals from the first friendly against Belgium
1492068857728704521

[gastric]

Great penalty save, horrible og!

[tetsujin1979]

nice finish from Roco Vata for a 1-0 in the second game against Belgium
1492790520875212804

[elatedscum]

any spurs fans have any info about Thomas Bloxham?

[JR89]

Strong 17s squad with plenty of good attacking players. First game against Portugal is on the FAI YouTube page. Bulgaria are top seeds in this group.

1505956150457606147

[tetsujin1979]

Bloxham from Spurs is a new one on me and one of only two players at a UK club, along with Vata

[liamoo11]

Bloxham from Spurs is a new one on me and one of only two players at a UK club, along with Vata

Kennys kids reported that Ronnie mcgrath from Leeds is also switching and he is also a 2005 wide player but obviously not done in time for this squad

[pineapple stu]

What a great name! We need more ******* offspring of peak era greats. Packie Aldridge, David Houghton, Chris Sheedy. There's players that'd win things!

[elatedscum]

This is my prediction for how they’ll start this afternoon, just throwing it out there:


Walsh

Curtis
Ivan S.
Heffernan
O’Brien

Ferizaj
McManus
Vata

Umeh
Zefi

O’Mahony

[JR89]

1506640351381053442

[Kingdom]

Portugal look decent enough. Our passing from midfield forward is stereotypical and weak.

[Kingdom]

1-0 - sweet goal.

Scratch that, incredible strike. Defending was ****e for it though. Way too easily allowed to turn.

PS: almost 30 mins in, this looks a very very good Portugal team. They're quicker, stronger, more physical and much better technically in open space and crucially in tight spots.

[tetsujin1979]

there was nothing the keeper could do about that goal, it was struck right into the corner.
he'd need to be six inches taller just to get near the shot

[ltfc_2004]

Soft second goal to give away and young Ivan looks and defends like David Luiz !

They always had a chance at 1-0 now its damage limitation

[Kingdom]

That's an atrocious second goal to concede.

[Kingdom]

Heffernan off for McHale, and Umah on for Lupsiuc

[Kingdom]

Ireland have looked much better since Umah has come on, we're seeing a lot more of the ball. Referee doesn't seem to like us at all. Looked to have been a few clear fouls against us that he's not gibing.

Edit 1: PS Mark O'Mahony pulls one back with a lovely close range finish, albeit with some confusion (lino looked to have flagged with ref over-ruling).
It's been threatening.

We're running at them, across them, and putting much more pressure on them in this half. Ferizaj has been more industrious, and it sounds like its Zefi running a lot wiht ball, and Vata to a certain degree.

Edit 2: ********. We should have equalised. Vata with a great run and slifes it across open goal thatUmah just couldn't reach.
We look to have pushed our full backs much higher. can't tell if we've gone three at the back, but Savshak has got much wider and higher the last 20 mins

Edit 3: Motherf@cker. We should have equalised again. Ferizaj played an absolutely gorgeous reverse slip ball in to O'Mahony who dragged badly wide. Portugal force a great save from the IE keeper immediately afterwards.

Savshak off for Danny McHale now.

Edit 4: 3-1, beautiful goal. skinned full-back, lashed a shin-high ball back towards peno spot and hit of the instep volley into top corner. great goal, qs on the defending/marking. Game over, 2 mints to go.

[tetsujin1979]

O'Mahony had a goal ruled out in the first half as well
Umeh was a fraction too late for a tap in for an equalier

[elatedscum]

Vata is so much better playing in number 10 than out wide. Huge difference in performance since they brought Umeh on and moved Vata inside.

O’Mahony really tiring - I’d bring on McLoughlin for the last 5 to see if the fresh legs could stretch their defence

[Kingdom]

I'd been updating my previous post as I couldn't see your two posts.
Watching on the phone in work so missed a few bits of the first half.

4-1. We're flat out. seems harsh given the response going two down.

[elatedscum]

harsh result, portugal the better side but we could easily have come away with a point.

a bit unlucky with losing 2 of the back 4 perhaps. you'd think that we needed to introduce some fresh legs, both Murphy and Vata were down with cramp when we lost the ball for 4th goal. i think Murphy went down with cramp 3 times in the last 25 mins.

In my mind, if everyone's fit, I'd have Vata in no.10, he riggles past players and finds space that isn't there. Out wide he just doesn't have the same impact, he's boxed in and while he's quick enough, he's not really as fast as you'd want to be in that position.

Umeh is really raw but just goes past players with absolute ease - he also has a knack of getting into the right place at the right time and picks up his fair share of goals from it.

Meanwhile, play any of McManus, Lipsiuc or Murphy alongside Ferizaj. Thought Ferizaj was poor by his own standards, he had is moments but didn't have a good game - wouldn't be too worried, it happens at that age.

Zefi is such a luxury player - clearly the most talented, but the work rate isn't great, especially when he loses the ball. You'd still question the decision making but in terms of natural talent, he's in a league of his own.

Fair play to O'Mahony, he scores goals for fun. Big miss at 2-1 but he's just a pure goalscorer. Will be very interesting to see his progression.

Hopefully those late goals don't cost us. Big game against Finland next, need a win at all costs...

[tetsujin1979]

Second qualifier against Finland just kicked off, live stream on YouTube here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpgT8o82JlE

1507672308609163265

[tetsujin1979]

Howler from the Finland goalkeeper for the opening goal. Zefi (I think) crossed from the left, which hit the crossbar, and rebounded through the goalkeepers hands and landed right at Umeh's feet for a tap in
Almost scored from a similar play a few minutes earlier, Vata with a cross from the left that just missed Umeh on the far post

[tetsujin1979]

Zefi penalty saved. Shot was too low down, keeper didn't have to do anything, just get down to it
Zefi central to everything though.

[tetsujin1979]

Equaliser from Finland, far post header from a free
Zefi the best player on the pitch but he's trying to win the game by himself, needs to pass the ball when there's other players in better positions

Players are wearing black armbands as well, don't know why

[CSAD]

3-2 to Finland now

I have serious questions of the coaches after today and the first half of the Portugal game, we are playing like a bunch of individuals throughout and when we go forward we are an absolute bucket of nerrves, no composure whatsoever. By contrast look at Finland when they get forward. To lose 3-2 when you consider the chances both sides have had is an absolute disgrace and 2 of the finish goals were completely down to us not paying attention.

[tetsujin1979]

Second Finnish goal came from a quickly taken free kick, with the Irish players still rushing back from an attack. They hadn't reset properly, which made the goal a little easier, but it was still a good finish
Third goal was a mistake from Heffernan, not sure how but he kicked the ball up in the are after intercepting a low cross on the near post, completely lost sight of it and it was an easy finish for the striker standing behind him

We really should have won that, the Finnish goalkeeper kept them in it with some excellent saves

[CSAD]

As a team Finland were everything we weren’t, a composed team that knew what they were doing. We had absolutely no composer throughout, everyone just playing like an individual’s and trying to make things happen on their own which they had to do because they clearly weren’t playing as a team, and that wouldn’t be a disaster if we at least had some composer but we lack that also so when we did try make something happen as an individual we’d make a mistake. Again I would seriously have questions of the coaching staff after this game, there is no excuse to have a team so nervous throughout their games consistently.

[CSAD]

Basically our only hope of qualifying now is beating Bulgaria by 1 goal and concede a goal, so a 2-1, 3-2 etc to ensure Finland finish last of if we win by 1-0 or by more than a goal then Bulgaria finish last meaning our results against them wouldn’t count and we still certainly be out. As long as Portugal win the rest of their games and we beat Bulgaria 2-1 then we will
be second and we might stand a chance of getting through as having 3 points as a 2nd place team should be enough to get you through.

[CSAD]

Basically our only hope of qualifying now is beating Bulgaria by 1 goal and concede a goal, so a 2-1, 3-2 etc to ensure Finland finish last of if we win by 1-0 or by more than a goal then Bulgaria finish last meaning our results against them wouldn’t count and we still certainly be out. As long as Portugal win the rest of their games and we beat Bulgaria 2-1 then we will
be second and we might stand a chance of getting through as having 3 points as a 2nd place team should be enough to get you through.

Apologies a high scoring 1 goal win for Ireland is required now for Ireland to have any chance of qualifying, 3-2, 4-3 etc. the good thing is we create chances and we can’t defend for **** so there’s every chance of that happening. Essentially todays score line but reversed along with a Portugal clean sweep will see us through.

[liamoo11]

We seemed to tire in the last 20 minutes quite badly leaving mahoney very isolated. Zefi went out of the game totally as well for the last half hour. Not playing zefi as a 10 centrally seems a bit of a waste

[CSAD]

I don’t know what but something just didn’t feel quite right from the beginning this campaign, almost felt like a Jim Crawford side. I think what summed it up was the first kick off against Portugal the first thing the Irish team did straight from the kick off is lump the ball down field straight to the Portuguese back four, almost sending a message that we had no intention of even trying to play football. I found it unusual as it’s not something you ever see from the Irish underage sides. And even today even letting Finland dictate the game was incredibly disappointing, we arguably dictated the game more versus Portugal in the 2nd half then the entire game today, yes we created chances but it felt most of the chances were just us breaking out of defense rather than us trying to systematically break down Finland like we did for instances versus Poland in the preliminary round.

[elatedscum]

Apologies a high scoring 1 goal win for Ireland is required now for Ireland to have any chance of qualifying, 3-2, 4-3 etc. the good thing is we create chances and we can’t defend for **** so there’s every chance of that happening. Essentially todays score line but reversed along with a Portugal clean sweep will see us through.

So assuming Portugal win against Finland (they've already qualified). Basically, if we win by 2 goals, we come second in the group, Finland come third, Bulgaria come 4th.

But when it gets to the best 7 of 8 second placed qualifiers, only the results vs the first and third teams count. So we'd have 0 points and have a -4 goal difference. So, it's possible to qualify under those circumstances but unlikely.

However, if we one by a single goal, we could go through on goals scored. We'd need to outscore finland across the games excluding the portugal ones, so 1-0 would have us level which means we come 3rd. 2-1 is enough for us to win the group, but Bulgaria still come last. However as CSAD said, if we win 3-2 or 4-3, then we come second and bulgaria come third.

And in that case, we'd have 3 points and a -2 goal difference, which should be enough to qualify, but not definitely. It's further complicated by Russia being kicked out and how their results will be counted for the 2nd place team in their group and Ukraine's group being postponed to April.

Anyway, I hope the boys know if they're 3-0 up, going into the last few minutes, they've got to throw the ball into their own net twice.

[CSAD]

So assuming Portugal win against Finland (they've already qualified). Basically, if we win by 2 goals, we come second in the group, Finland come third, Bulgaria come 4th.

But when it gets to the best 7 of 8 second placed qualifiers, only the results vs the first and third teams count. So we'd have 0 points and have a -4 goal difference. So, it's possible to qualify under those circumstances but unlikely.

However, if we one by a single goal, we could go through on goals scored. We'd need to outscore finland across the games excluding the portugal ones, so 1-0 would have us level which means we come 3rd. 2-1 is enough for us to win the group, but Bulgaria still come last. However as CSAD said, if we win 3-2 or 4-3, then we come second and bulgaria come third.

And in that case, we'd have 3 points and a -2 goal difference, which should be enough to qualify, but not definitely. It's further complicated by Russia being kicked out and how their results will be counted for the 2nd place team in their group and Ukraine's group being postponed to April.

Anyway, I hope the boys know if they're 3-0 up, going into the last few minutes, they've got to throw the ball into their own net twice.

Yeah, the GD is an issue but it’s incredibly unlikely that all 8 teams will have 3 points so a win should be enough if by the right margin.

[tetsujin1979]

Final game kicked off 15 minutes ago, already 1-0 down
Live text commentary here: https://www.uefa.com/under17/match/2034000--republic-of-ireland-vs-bulgaria/
(https://www.uefa.com/under17/match/2034000--republic-of-ireland-vs-bulgaria/)
Portugal leading Finland 2-1 in the other game in the group: https://www.uefa.com/under17/match/2034001--finland-vs-portugal/

[CSAD]

It’s 2-2!


Ireland now just need 1 more goal and they will have the 3-2 result they need to give them a fair shout of qualifying with 15 minutes left!

[elatedscum]

Portugal 6-1 up in the other game, so that’s done there.

So one goal and it looks good

[Stuttgart88]

That one goal didn't come I assume.

[tetsujin1979]

no, finished 2-2, and Portugal beat Finland 9-1, Finland had a player sent off

[CSAD]

That one goal didn't come I assume.

You assume correct!

They showed great character to come from 2-0 down to make it 2-2 and give themselves a fighting chance of qualifying. Ultimately they haven’t shown enough over the 3 games to deserve it. I would put a lot of blame at the coaches door for these performances, for whatever reason they just never looked comfortable and looked bereft of
Ideas.

[Kingdom]

CSAD - just wondering, is this the group of players who Andy Reid took over at u15s level a couple of years ago before heading off? Because if so, they were a poor side (in comparison to other years) under him, just Zefi and Vata have glossed over things a bit perhaps.

also, cathal heffernan was weak against Portugal, and sounds like he made howlers against Finland too?

[tetsujin1979]

both of the second two goals conceded against Finland shouldn't have been scored, and we should have been far ahead at that stage anyway, their keeper had a great game

[CSAD]

CSAD - just wondering, is this the group of players who Andy Reid took over at u15s level a couple of years ago before heading off? Because if so, they were a poor side (in comparison to other years) under him, just Zefi and Vata have glossed over things a bit perhaps.

also, cathal heffernan was weak against Portugal, and sounds like he made howlers against Finland too?

No Jason Donoghue was definitely in charge, it was my first season following them so I definitely would know!

We just seemed like a very badly organized team but afew players with moments of brilliance here or there papered over the cracks.

[Kingdom]

No Jason Donoghue was definitely in charge, it was my first season following them so I definitely would know!

We just seemed like a very badly organized team but afew players with moments of brilliance here or there papered over the cracks.

yes, that's right, Jason Donohoe. good man well remembered. I struggle to identify the different years unless I get to see them in flesh.

[tetsujin1979]

Kennys kids reported that Ronnie mcgrath from Leeds is also switching and he is also a 2005 wide player but obviously not done in time for this squad
He follows me on Twitter, so I asked him about declaring, said he's never spoken to anyone at the FAI

[liamoo11]

He follows me on Twitter, so I asked him about declaring, said he's never spoken to anyone at the FAI

Thanks Tets. That's a shame . Hopefully he goes on to have a fine career anyways

[tetsujin1979]

I passed on the contact email address I've used before to him, we'll see what happens next

[CraftyToePoke]

He follows me on Twitter, so I asked him about declaring, said he's never spoken to anyone at the FAI

What is his link to us ?