QuoteAny of ye there? What was it like?
Republic of Ireland 0- 0 Holland
(Ireland win 2-1 on aggregate)
BRIAN Kerr's latest crop of footballing colts have qualified for the finals of the U-19 European Championships after a tense night in Cork.
Last night's sell-out return leg at Turners Cross ended in a goalless draw and that was more than enough to sweep Kerr and his kids to an eighth major finals in five years at the helm of youths football in this country.
Kerr's side started the more inventive and enterprising side but they found Dutch goalkeeper Boy Waterman in superb form in the opening half.
The Heerenveen 'keeper winning only his third cap denied the home side a lead goal no fewer than four times in the first half as he saved brilliantly from Glenn Whelan's 30-yard dig, Sean Thornton's stinging drive mid-way through and twice from Adrian Deane before the break.
The sell-out crowd of 7,500 were a little subdued in that opening period in which the Irish boys again had the better of the play, apart from the ten minutes to half-time.
Tranmere's Sean Thornton saved Irish blushes early on when he popped up in his own penalty box to get his head behind Lim Duan's goalbound drive but, by and large, the Irish controlled the tie.
The Dutch going into the tie with a one goal deficit saw more of the bll in the closing minutes of the first half but they had nothing to show for that spell of superiority.
Irish 'keeper Brian Murphy, one of four Manchester City players in the starting eleven, was in commanding form as he patrolled his penalty area with purpose.
Holland were the first to threaten after the break when Lim-Duan's drive was scrambled away for a corner by Murphy after 49 minutes and then Irish skipper Graham Ward had to clear off the line from Dutch midfielder Nicky Hofs.
Gradually the Dutch were gaining the upper hand and Ireland made their first change after 53 minutes when Bolton's Clive Ross stepped off the bench for a disappointing Glenn Whelan.
You could sense the anxiety sweeping right around the grounds as Holland poured forward in search of the two elusive goals that would have clinched them a final spot in Norway next month.
But it was not to be as Kerr's kids held firm on a chilly night on Leeside thanks to the experise of young 'keeper Murphy who was Ireland's man of the match.
The Dutch ended the tie with ten men when van Beukering was red carded for an injury-time foul on Thornton in the centre circle.
TEAMS:
Ireland (4-3-3) - Murphy (Manchester City), Kelly (Tottenham), Paisley (Man. City), McCarthy (do), Capper (Sunderland); Ward (Wolves) capt,Whelan (Man. City), Thornton (Tranmere Rovers); Deane (Charlton Ath), Daly (Stockport County), Gethins (Ross County). Subs. Ross (Bolton Wanderers) for Whelan (53 mins), Elliott (Man. City) for Gethins (65 mins).
Holland - (4-5-1) - Waterman (Heerenveen); Verhaegh (PSV Eindhoven), Sprockel (Feyenoord), de Jong (Ajax), Jansen (Vitesse); Lim-Duan (Zwolle), Snejder (Ajax), Hofs (do), Hoogstrate (Groningen), Robben (do); van Beukering (Vitesse). Subs. Huntelaar (PSV Eindhoven) for Hofs (65 mins), Castelen (Den Haag) for Lim-Duan (75 mins), Rojer (Vitesse) for Verhaegh (89
mins)
Referee: Mr. Alfonso Perez Burrull (Spain)
Any of ye there? What was it like?
not tellingOriginally posted by Pablo
Any of ye there? What was it like?
another great night of international football at the cross - great crowd, good game (only lacking a goal, or two) and a great end (after the Dutch kids started to lose the run of themselves that is!). Lap of honour by the team which ended up in front of the shed.
With Croatia, Holland and France all out of the competition, surely Ireland has a chance of at least getting to the last four in Norway???
Does anyone know if these Euro Championships are also a qualifier for the Youth World Cup? Generally you just have to avoid coming last in your group in the finals to qualify, as 6 out of 8 from Europe go through. The next u-20 World Cup is in 2003, so I reckon these Euros will act as the qualifiers.
No offense to the guy but Ross County?! Come on Mr. Kerr, have a look back here before you trawl the depths.........Originally posted by Pablo
Gethins (Ross County)
From what i have heard he is a gem...he wont be at Ross Co. for much longer i'd say
hes wanted by hibs,kilmarnock and nottm forest
j'accuse!
Isn't it about time we hosted an U-18 or U19 or U20 finals?
We hosted the Euro U16 finals a few years ago and that was a great success.
Did anyone else think the Irish left-back had a great game?
It is only fair that all Ireland games are held outside Dublin except for the Senior ones. Hopefully the U21 Team will play most of their games in Turner's Cross next season.
Top 6 in Norway will go through to the World CupOriginally posted by MikeW
Does anyone know if these Euro Championships are also a qualifier for the Youth World Cup? Generally you just have to avoid coming last in your group in the finals to qualify, as 6 out of 8 from Europe go through. The next u-20 World Cup is in 2003, so I reckon these Euros will act as the qualifiers.
Apparently, the FAI have asked Switzerland if the under 21 match in October can be played their (due to the 100 km rule), but plans to hold a Womens World Cup Qualifier there in the summer have been shelved because the playing surface will be undergoing some work. The match may yet be played in the 'Dyke (hur, hur!) or in Cobh.Originally posted by Shelsman
It is only fair that all Ireland games are held outside Dublin except for the Senior ones. Hopefully the U21 Team will play most of their games in Turner's Cross next season.
Apparently the finals the next year are on in Liechtenstein of all places! (according to the UEFA site anyway) Now, I'm fairly sure the facilities there are a lot worse than here - the ground they use for international matches is worse than a lot of National League grounds here, and they can't have many other grounds because there's only about 30k people living there. So surely if Liechtenstein is deemed suitable to host an u-19 finals then there's no excuse why we can't. We're due something here so its up to the FAI to get their finger out.Isn't it about time we hosted an U-18 or U19 or U20 finals?
Originally posted by joe
The match may yet be played in the 'Dyke (hur, hur!).....
It was, by all accounts, another great night for Cork soccer. Dissappointing first half atmosphere, but the second half made up for this as the shed (with the corner boys in it) sang practically non stop from half time until about 10 minutes after the final whistle. At one stage I think I even heard an Ireland chant coming from the direction of the Donie Ford stand. There was a nice mix of city and Ireland chants sung by the shed. I think the FAI should play a lot of Internationals in the cross from now on, what more could they ask for then a sell-out crowd, a great atmospere and not even a hint of crowd trouble.
Champions!
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