European Qualifier Elite Stage
11.06.2013 at 15:00 - Karadjordje,Novi Sad
PAUL DOOLIN’S Republic of Ireland U19 side face Serbia in their final game of the UEFA U19 Championships at FK Srem, Jakovo tomorrow (16.30 Irish Time) with hopes of still remaining of reaching the finals.
All four teams can still qualify for the final tournament in Lithuania this summer depending on the results. Switzerland and Slovakia will meet in the other tie at the same time.
The Irish drew their first two games 2-2 including a dramatic injury-time equaliser by Steven Smith against the Slovaks on Saturday. They will need to secure a victory against the Serbs then hope the Swiss drop points against Slovakia.
“Slovakia was a tough game. We’ve had two games in a close period of time so that’ll obviously take a bit out of you,” said Head Coach Doolin.
“We equalised late on against Slovakia so we got a lift. We wanted to stay involved until the final day and that’s what we’ve achieved. Now we’re at the stage where anybody could finish top or bottom. We can only do our job and let the other game play itself out.
“We’ve just taken it easy and prepared for tomorrow’s game. Serbia are a side we’ve played before in 2010 they were in our group and got to the semi-finals in 2011 and were final tournament qualifiers in 2012. They are a strong nation in underage football. Our U17s played them in their last game too.
“The Slovakia game was a tighter game than it seemed. They’ve got a senior international Alex Mitrovic who played against Belgium in the recent World Cup qualifier in their squad. He’s a tall lad. They’ve creative midfielders and a good striker Uroš Djurdjević who scored twice against Slovaks. It’ll be tough but Serbia can’t afford to lose either.
“We know it won’t be easy against the host nation. This group of players have played nine games and not lost. They certainly have belief and confidence. If they do the right things then if somebody beats you they have to have played well. Sam Byrne has been great for us. We’re scoring goals. We scored in injury-time after conceding an unlucky late goal so that says a lot about their character.
Ireland are without the suspended Noe Baba while the only injury concern is a light shin knock for Luke Gallagher.
FIXTURES
UEFA U19 Elite Round Group Two
Thursday, June 6
Republic of Ireland U19 2 Switzerland U19 2
Serbia 4 Slovakia 0
Saturday, June 8
Republic of Ireland U19 2 Slovakia U19 2
Serbia 0 Switzerland 1
Tuesday, June 11
Republic of Ireland U19 v Serbia U19
FK Srem, Jakovo. KO 17.30pm Local Time (16.30 Irish Time)
Switzerland v Slovakia
FK Obilić, Belgrade. KO 17.30pm Local Time (16.30 Irish T
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