fai Brian Kerr has named five Stephen's in his starting line-up for Monday's clash with Korea at the Al Nahryan Stadium in Abu Dhabi (Kick off 7:15, 3:15 Irish time).
Stephen Elliott, Stephen Brennan, Stephen Kelly, Stephen Paisley and Stephen Capper are the five players in question and, although it is not the first time all five have played together, it is the first time that the entire back for will be made up of Stephens with Brennan slotting in at right back, Capper on the left and Kelly and Paisley slotting in the middle.
Goalkeeper Wayne Henderson of Aston Villa returns to the side for the first time since the third-place play-off in the European Under 19 Championships while the midfield is made up of Liam Kearney, captain Graham Ward and Liverpool duo, Darren Potter and Michael Foley.
In attack, Bray Wanderers Eamon Zayed makes his debut alongside the Elliott.
The remainder of the squad will be on the bench with competition rules stating that five outfield players and one goalkeeper are allowed to be brought on as substitutes.
The game is the start of a Ireland's involvement in a Four Nations Tournament in Abu Dhabi with games against the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday and France on Friday to come as Kerr's squad begin preparations for March's World Youth Championships which will be held in the United Arab Emirates.
most of that lot were involved with the under19s games in Cork recently and look handy enough. The defence was solid enough, while kearney and foley are quite handy in midfield. Don't know much about the strikers in the squad though, apart from Zayed who has done alright with bray
20/01/2003, 3:16 PM
pete
Haven't a lot of the players going tot hr u-20 world cup pulled out of this warm up tournament?
Is this 'Stephen' tactic someone Keer hopes to use with the Senior team using a different first name perhaps?
