Soccer Scene

Change:  Move to:
05.04.2007 at 18:00 Estadio Dr Jorge Sampaio Attendance:
Portugal 1 - 0 Rep of Ireland Under 19
Referee: Christian Dinger (ALE) Tournament / T/S-match

Goalscorers
Candeias 16 mins, None.
Opening squads
Ventura,
Andre Santos,
Daniel Carrico (C),
Carlos Alves,
Candeias,
Rui Pedro,
Orlando Sa,
Stelvio Cruz,
Joao Mendes,
Ivan Santos,
Yago Fernandez.
Shane Redmond
Simon Madden
Darren Dennehy
Michael Spillane
Lorcan Fitzgerald
Greg Bolger
Robert Bayly
Alan Judge
Mark Salmon
Aidan Downes
Darren Forsyth
Substitutes
Rui Patricio,
Bura,
Joao Martins,
Monteiro,
Luis Portela,
Tiago Pinto,
Stephen Henderson
Shane Lowry
Matthew Cassidy
Keith Treacy
Substitutions
None Keith Treacy -> Darren Forsyth (46)
Shane Lowry -> Greg Bolger (46)
Matthew Cassidy -> Mark Salmon (70)
Yellow cards
None None.
Red cards
None None.
Other statistics
0 Shots 0
0 Shots on goal 0
0 Offsides 0
0 Corner kicks 0
0 Free kicks 0
0 Penalties 0
Match report
Irish Under 19’s Beaten By Portugal in Oporto Tournament

Thursday, April 5th, 2007

Oporto Under 19 Invitational Tournament, Portugal

Republic of Ireland 0 Portugal 1

The Republic of Ireland Under-19 lost the second game of the Oporto Under-19 Invitational tournament to hosts Portugal in Vila Nova this evening.

Ireland manager Sean McCaffrey made seven changes to his team from the side which drew 1-1 with Germany on Wednesday in order to assess all of the 18 players in his squad.

Portugal scored the only goal of the match after 16 minutes through a wonderful long-range strike by Candeias that left Ireland goalkeeper Shane Redmond with no chance.

The host nation sprayed the ball around with a great deal of fluency in the first-half and Ireland could count themselves fortunate not to have been further behind by the half-time mark.

Ireland manager Sean McCaffrey made a double substitution at the interval, bringing Keith Treacy and Shane Lowry on to add more invention in attack.

Blackburn Rovers Treacy was particularly influential as Ireland upped the tempo in search of an equaliser.

He fired a shot from just outside of the penalty area which had Portugal goalkeeper Happiness scampering across his line to save.

Treacy turned provider for Ireland’s best chance of rescuing a draw from the game late on. He sprinted past his marker on the left-wing before sending in a cross to the far post where both Alan Judge and Robert Bayly had taken up great positions but neither got the touch it required to slot home from close-range.

Germany beat Ukraine 1-0 in the other group game played today, leaving them and the hosts to compete for the trophy in their clash on Saturday. Ireland face Ukraine, also on Saturday, in Leca Palmeira (kick-off 9am).

Ireland manager Sean McCaffrey considered himself disappointed to lose but took heart in the displays from his players.

“Our focus is on the UEFA Elite qualifiers next month and in that context, plenty of lads have done well enough in the two games so far to be knocking on the door for inclusion in the squad.

“Portugal have a class team and won the game with a tremendous goal. We created a few chances to equalise and might have scored on another day. The other side of the equation is that this tournament is serving it’s purpose - we’re getting to see our players competing against top nations and that’s only going to benefit them for the qualifiers.”

The second, Elite qualifying stage of the UEFA Championship in Dublin will be played from May 14 to 19. Only the top team after a round robin series will go forward to the UEFA finals in Austria. The finals will run from July 16 to 27.

IRELAND:
Shane Redmond - Nottingham Forest
Simon Madden - Leeds United
Lorcan Fitzgerald - West Ham
Michael Spillane - Norwich City
Darren Dennehy - Everton
Greg Bolger - UCD
Alan Judge - Blackburn Rovers
Robert Bayly - Leeds United
Mark Salmon - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Aidan Downes - Everton
Darren Forsyth - UCD

Subs:
Keith Treacy - Blackburn Rovers for Forsyth (Half-time)
Shane Lowry - Aston Villa - for Bolger (Half-time)
Matthews Cassidy - Bolton Wanderers for Salmon (70 mins)
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