On The Spot - Paul Doolin


With 2012 coming to an end and 2013 just over the horizon, some of our international managers took time out from the Christmas festivities to answer a few questions we posed to them. Today we talk to Paul Doolin, manager of the Republic of Ireland U19 team.


1: What was the highlight of 2012 for you and your team?

One of the highlights of 2012 for me was the U19s qualification for the elite round. Why I feel it was so good was because we only had one friendly and we had some knockbacks before the tournament started with players having to leave the squad through injuries. So, to finish level with Germany in the group was fantastic. We were 2-0 down at half time and to come back to draw 2-2 was excellent. The other highlight was to see so many players from our U9 squad who reached the Euro semi-final in Romania playing in the U21 win over Italy. There were 11 in total and it was great for myself and the rest of the staff to see so many progress.


2: What was the biggest disappointment in 2012 for you and your team?


The biggest disappointment I felt from 2012 was losing out to Serbia to host the U19 elite phase here in 2013 it would have been great along with The Gathering, which is taking place in 2013 in Ireland. The other disappointment was the elite round in Portugal. Having played excellent in the game itself to lose to a late own goal was hard. The players deserved better as it makes it very hard to win the group and qualify for the finals.


Read more at www.fai.ie