http://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/osam-...victory-shield
Okoflex in there. Is Parrott not with Spurs and is he not a striker?
That's fantastic news about okoflex. The other lad from Arsenal is a new addition I think. Hodge the city lad not in this time may have chosen England. It's a squad that seems to have slot of attacking ability even without sotona from man Utd. Hope they do well and hopefully there is a stream like last season
What a multicultural squad! So much to be excited about with the underage squads. And wins over the lego lovers, would certainly add to the optimism I presently feel about Irish football!
The boys in Nigeria aren't impressed: http://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=25089
Don't think I've seen this before from Okoflex: "Ireland is where I’m from but England is financially better and the grounds are amazing. I enjoy playing with both but obviously I’m Irish so I feel the connection with them."
https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/new...mark-1.3178485
He seems to have no problem playing for two countries at the same time!
"Oko-Flex is on the England youth squad, where he participated in their August 2016 training camp at Loughborough Camp (Warwick University) and further training in October 2016 at St George's Park, and played his first game against Belgium in February. Armstrong Oko-Flex continued to represent England U16 as they took on Turkey and Romania U16’s winning both games 2-1 on August 22, 2017 at St George’s Park, where he scored his goal. Armstrong is eligible to represent the Republic of Ireland England or Nigeria internationally. Oko-Flex was called up to the Republic of Ireland national under-15 team, playing his first game against the [Netherlands]]. His other Irish side international engagement include against Norway U15 and Czech Republic U15 in March 2017. Oko-Flex made his first start against the Netherlands on 31 January 2017 for the Republic of Ireland [SIZE=2][[/SIZE] And returning from this game against the Netherlands, on 16 February 2017 Oko-Flex also made his first start for England U15 in a match against Belgium at St Georges' Park Football centre, Burton-on-Trent"
Understandably so - I guess we're lucky that so far the Nigerian FA doesn't seem to be following young lads of Nigerian descent in Ireland as closely as the FAI watches for young footballers of Irish descent in Britain, which gives the FAI the chance to get them into our underage teams.
Won their opening game 1-0 today against Northern Ireland: https://twitter.com/FAIreland/status...89598407856128
Victory for #IRLU16 in their first game of the Victory Shield. They beat @NorthernIreland 1-0 thanks to a second-half goal from Troy Parrott
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A2-8PwxG848 . Highlights of a sort from today
The FAI have highlights on their Facebook page. Okoflex and Parrott looked absolutely tantalizing up front from the 2 minutes.
just watched the full first half there on the ifa YouTube channel. We were miles the best side must have had 70 percent Of The ball. Our keeper never once kicked long theirs kicked long every time. We played from the back constantly with a very rare long diagonal ball while they went long much more often. I was surprised this article which is based on the players who would make up this north age group https://m.independent.ie/sport/socce...-34244549.html made be think that these northern lads were coming through a system that was creating magical technical players who wanted to play possession football and club ni was leaving our players totally behind as we huffed it and chased it. Me thinks Dan McDonnell guilded the lily.
Seems so. He spews a lot of negative speculation and draws conclusions on fairly paltry evidence. "Ease of access to high-quality team-mates and expert coaching means they are further advanced than their southern counterparts": says who? Proof in the pudding pal. Pity I'm not on Twitter to let him know my thoughts. Liamo strikes me as someone who could do battle against McDonnell with his doomsday journalism.
Can't edit the above as I'm on my phone but I generally quite like McDonnell. The tone of that article and using a half quote from Bradley to somehow enhance his point render his argument a little weak, even before this result.
Whether it's potentially a few very good age groups akin to a bit of a golden generation of lads or a sign of good long term work beginning to come to fruition, we have some serious talents.
I'm really positive about the future. Haven't felt like this about our youth teams in more than 15 years.
watched second half there the north were brutal but just like us at senior level lashing the ball into the box does cause panic especially as our centre halfs were smaller than their front lads. Great philosophy of how we play underage everyone looked comfortable on the ball all played in tight areas. Not sure we will ever see anything like this at senior level! That oko flex looks a player . Parrot played in the attacking role in a midfield three but I'd say that was to get as many attacking talents into the side with the Utd lad who looked dangerous up top. The lad who played left full in first half for us really looked tidy. Obosele who came on second half looked proper pacy and a good footballer out on the right. Very enjoyable watch
Have to agree with this assessment. Seems every time I read about some team other than the senior team (who, mind you, have the small matter of a two-legged tie to make next year's World Cup Finals) there is good news these days.
Someone commented last week that our underage teams had scored 27 goals in 12 games, winning ten and drawing two of them. This could be a golden generation alright.
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