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The Republic of Ireland Under 19’s preparations for the European Championships qualifiers received a massive boost last week with a victory over Italy in Bari and manager Sean McCaffrey admits that last week’s performances have given him greater confidence ahead of the competitive matches.
McCaffrey is busily preparing his squad for the qualifiers, to take place in Serbia and Montenegro in April when Ireland will be looking to finish top of a four team group of the hosts, Albania and Poland.
Before then, Ireland travel to the Spanish resort of La Manga for three friendly clashes against Denmark, Norway and the Czech Republic.
But even with those three games to come, McCaffrey admits that his team are looking very strong. Two clashes with Italy, one win and draw and no goals conceded are bound to appease any manager but for McCaffrey it was the high quality of the performances that delighted him most.
“I was delighted with the performances,” said McCaffrey. “Italy are a top team, technically very good and very physically. They got away with murder but it was us that got the good results.
“Even under immense intimidation we played well. They were getting frees which was frustrating and they were kicking lumps out of us and we were getting no protection. When that happens, you fear that someone will react but that never happened which shows the maturity of the side.”
McCaffrey admits that travelling to Italy, he knew that he had an under strength squad though the performances mean that a number of them are not only pushing for a place in the squad for competitive games, but also a place in the team.
“I think three or four of them are good enough and the Italy matches definitely broadened the squad base and gives me a lot to think about. If they can do it against Italy, they can do it against anyone!
“But I still hope to have a full strength squad in La Manga. It’s the hazard of being an international manager but I would prefer if we didn’t go to Serbia with some the players still not having played together.”
Getting the squad together can prove difficult McCaffrey admitted especially with some of his brightest stars still eligible for Under 19 football such as Joe O’Brien (Sheffield Wednesday), Paul McShane (Walsall) and Aiden McGeady (Celtic) starring for their respective first teams or on loan at lower division clubs and progressing through the ranks rapidly.
But getting all his players together in La Manga is not the only concern for McCaffrey who is keen to go on a spying mission to watch Ireland’s three European Championship opponents.
“They’re all very secretive but I still hope to get a look at them before we play them. Getting to see Poland is most important because we’ll play them first and I will get to look at the other two in their matches.”
