Republic of Ireland Under-19 manager Sean McCaffrey has selected a 20-man squad for next week’s double-header of friendly games against Portugal.
The matches on September 4th and 6th (both 7.30pm) will maintain preparations ahead of the first phase UEFA Under-19 qualifying series kicking off in earnest. UCD’s Belfield Park and the Carlisle Grounds in Bray will stage the friendly matches with the date for each venue yet to be confirmed.
Ireland are scheduled to meet Belarus, Andora and the mini-group hosts Portugal in the qualifiers from November 1st – 6th, with the top two nations progressing into next year’s Elite phase.
Irish Manager Sean McCaffrey has opted to change the majority of the squad from the panel that played against Chile earlier this month as he attempts to experiment and assess all players for the competitive matches.
McCaffrey says that these pair of matches will greatly benefit his selection process.
“We’re going through a sorting out exercise at present trying to find the best players for the European qualifiers in November. There’s a core set of about seven or eight players that should make up the backbone of the squad but lots of places are still up for grabs.”
The Irish manager is not concerned about facing Portugal in these friendly matches before they meet again in the qualifiers in November.
“The Portuguese are one of our opponents in the UEFA qualifiers but we are not due to play them until the last of our three matches by which time both counties could be through. I’m not worried about that factor because what we need right now is testing matches for our players and Portugal are certain to provide that.”
There’s a first call-up to an Irish squad for Manchester City’s Paul Marshall. The English-born midfielder has Irish parents and is poised to make his first appearance next week. Marshall is one of four players in the squad from Manchester City, along with Garry Breen, Donal McDermott and Ian Daly.
Hamilton Academicals midfielder James McCarthy is also given his debut call-up to the Under-19 squad. McCarthy collected his first Irish caps last season at Under-17 level and makes this squad despite being still an Under-18 player.
Tottenham Hotspur striker Terry Dixon is included on the standby list for the squad as he enters the final phase of recovery from him long-term injury. Dixon’s comeback stepped during the last week with him making two brief appearances for Spurs.
“There are a huge number of players in contention for the squad at this age-level,” added McCaffrey. “I would estimate that we have a pool of around 35 good players to choose from who are playing for clubs in Ireland and abroad.
“I know what Terry Dixon can do. He’s a class player and hopefully we’ll get him fully fit and back to his peak for the qualifiers.”
Under-19 Friendly Fixtures:
Tuesday, September 4th - 7.30pm
Republic of Ireland v Portugal
Venue TBC
Thursday, September 6th - 7.30pm
Republic of Ireland v Portugal
Venue TBC
Republic of Ireland Under-19 Squad:
Shane Redmond – Nottingham Forest
David Bevan – Aston Villa
Cian Hughton – Tottenham Hotspur
Brendan Moloney – Nottingham Forest
Shane Lowry – Aston Villa
Noel Haverty – St. Patrick’s Athletic
Garry Breen – Manchester City
Ian Bermingham – UCD
Daniel Earls – Aston Villa
Michael Spillane – Norwich City
Graham Carey – Celtic
David Hutton – Tottenham Hotspur
Paul Marshall – Manchester City
Lorcan Fitzgerald – West Ham
James McCarthy – Hamilton Academicals
Alan Lynch – Bohemians
Paul Cahillane – Celtic
Donal McDermott – Manchester City
Cillian Sheridan – Celtic
Ian Daly – Manchester City
Quote
Ian Bermingham makes Ireland U-19 squad
Originally Posted by feo123
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