UEFA U17 Elite Phase

[eirebhoy]

Fixtures:
Republic of Ireland v Scotland - Today (Wednesday 21st)
Republic of Ireland v Greece - Friday 23rd
Republic of Ireland v Germany - Monday 26th

All matches played in Germany.

Ireland won their qualifying group with wins against Azerbaijan (2-0; Mccormack, Matthews) and Latvia (2-0; Collins, Daly) and a goalless draw against Denmark.

And the team to play Scotland:
Kieron Thorp - Crystal Palace
Gareth Matthews - Norwich City
Mark Nolan - Celtic
David Joyce - Birmingham City
Laurence Gaughan – Liverpool
Kurtis Byrne - Norwich City
Shane O’Connor - Liverpool
Conor McCormack - Manchester United
James McCarthy - Hamilton Academicals
Michael Collins – Liverpool
Ian Daly - Manchester City

SUBS:
David Maguire - Shrewsbury
Paul Honohan - Wilton Utd
Danny Kelly - Norwich City
Anthony Bruce - West Bromwich Albion
Gearoid Morrissey - Ringmahon Rangers
Craig Duggan - Kilreen Celtic
Sean Scannell - Crystal Palace

James McCarthy up against the country of his birth.

Only the winner of the group qualifies for the finals.

[tetsujin1979]

Scotland's Kris Renton of Norwich was involved in the Ireland underage setup, before switching allegiances, according to today's Independent

[Paddy Garcia]

Peter Grant was none to pleased when he arrived that a young "Scots" lad had declared for Ireland. He set about changing his mind.

[Keego]

DOes anyone know what time kick off is? I have just tried to ring Michael Collin's father but his phone is off might be out there

[NeilMcD]

Kicked off at 2 irish time not sure what the score is though.

[Paddy Garcia]

Germany beat Greece 4-1 today

[Paddy Garcia]

2 goals by Ian Daly secured a 2-1 win

[Reddladd]

They won. Rep of Ireland 2-1 Scotland.

[eirebhoy]

Good result.

Report:
http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1837


Ireland were deserved winners and march on towards Friday’s clash against Greece with optimism. The midfield pairing of James McCarthy and Conor McCormack were magnificent and manager Sean McCaffrey was swift to heap praise on the character shown by his players.

[tetsujin1979]

Thought Daly was one of the best players on the pitch in the loss to Italy back in January. Good touch, vision for a pass, and willing to get stuck in to win the ball.

[soccerc]

Thought Daly was one of the best players on the pitch in the loss to Italy back in January. Good touch, vision for a pass, and willing to get stuck in to win the ball.

Daly was outstanding today and took his goals well. Picked up a hefty kick on the ankle and doubtful for Fridays game with Greece.

Played 4 4 1 1 with outside midfielders aiding the attack going forward.

[eirebhoy]

Republic of Ireland team v Greece:
Kieron Thorp - Crystal Palace
Gareth Matthews - Norwich City
Paul Honohan - Wilton Utd.
David Joyce - Birmingham City
Laurence Gaughan – Liverpool
Kurtis Byrne - Norwich City
Shane O’Connor - Liverpool
Conor McCormack - Manchester United
James McCarthy - Hamilton Academicals
Michael Collins – Liverpool
Sean Scannell - Crystal Palace

SUBS:
David Maguire - Shrewsbury Town
Mark Nolan - Glasgow Celtic
Danny Kelly - Norwich City
Anthony Bruce - West Bromwich Albion
Gearoid Morrissey - Ringmahon Rangers
Craig Duggan - Kilreen Celtic
Ian Daly - Manchester City

Nolan and Daly dropped/injured.

[tetsujin1979]

Daly has a hip injury according to fai.ie, team still looks really good going forward

[Paddy Garcia]

Germany beat Scotland 4-1

[tetsujin1979]

1-0 up in the second half according to livescores.net, dunno the scorer

[eirebhoy]

Germany beat Scotland 4-1
Jesus they destroy teams.

[Kingdom]

Sure let them destroy the others all they want, if the lads sneak a 1-0 over the Germans what will the German thrashings matter.

[eirebhoy]

Full time, 1-0 Ireland. We always seem to go down the very last game in these elite qualifiers and fail though.

[eirebhoy]

James McCarthy scored the goal. I'm sure there's a few scouts watching him.

[tetsujin1979]

From the celtic mailing list:
> Talking to his [James] aul fella just as i came in the door there, and
> apparently the boys in Greece with the whatever under's he plays for.
> Beat them 1-0 today with McCarthy getting the goal. Said they also beat
> Scotland the other night with his boy scoring again. Mentioned that the
> lad was down at Reading for a few days trial , and that Liam Brady has
> been nipping his ear (Arsenal ?). The Willie fella none too pleased at
> being stuck in Castlemilk whilst the wife is over in Greece.

[Peadar]

Germany is going to be a tough game tomorrow but I can't imagine the home crowd being a factor. McCaffrey has his teams well organised so hopefully we can get a win.

[tetsujin1979]

McCaffrey is going all out with a 4-3-3 formation. James McCarthy is injured, so he's dropped to the bench.

Republic of Ireland team:
Kieron Thorp (Crystal Palace), Gareth Matthews (Norwich City), Paul Honohan (Wilton), David Joyce (Birmingham City), Laurence Gaughan (Liverpool), Kurtis Byrne (Norwich City), Anthony Bruce (West Bromwich Albion), Conor McCormack (Manchester United), Ian Daly (Manchester City), Craig Duggan (Kilreen Celtic), Sean Scannell (Crystal Palace).

SUBS: Michael Collins (Liverpool), James McCarthy (Hamilton Academicals), Gearoid Morrissey (Ringmahon Rangers), Shane O’Connor (Liverpool), David Maguire (Shrewsbury Town), Mark Nolan (Celtic), Danny Kelly (Norwich City).

[Bungle]

we're losing 3-0 according to livescores.net

[eirebhoy]

Yeah, finished 3-0. Was 0-0 at half time. Typical, always one match away from the finals.

[tetsujin1979]

Germans hailed in qualifying: http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under17/news/kind=1/newsid=520450.html?cid=rssfeed&att=index
Seems they were impressed with the Irish team, even though it was weakened with Dixon and McCarthy missing

Coach happy
"The Irish made it difficult for us today," Schomann said, after his charges won with a second-half Sascha Bigalke penalty and two late goals from substitute Marvin Knoll. "I have to compliment our team, even though we were not as strong in attack as we had been in the other two games. My team took up the fight the Irish offered and deservedly claimed their place in the finals."