EC Elite Round
28.03.2014 at 14:00 - FK Obilić, Belgrade (SRB)
Mohans Irish U17s ready for UEFA qualifier against Germany
THE Republic of Ireland U17 side face group leaders Germany in the UEFA U17 Championship elite qualifying round at FK Obilić, Belgrade tomorrow (2.00pm Irish)
Tom Mohans side suffered heartbreak on Wednesday when they were beaten by hosts Serbia thanks to an injury-time penalty.
The meeting with the Serbs saw two Irish players Danny Kane and Corey Whelan received red cards so both miss the clash with Germany. Tom Holland also sits out due to accumulated yellow cards after carrying over a booking from the previous round.
“Wednesday was a disappointing result but we are focusing on Germany now. We have looked at their win over Georgia and they were very dominant,” said Mohan.
“They took over early in the second half. They kept possession of the ball. They get attacking full-backs forward and overload it in those areas. We are aware of how they play but we have to look at our game too. We had good periods against Serbia and opened them up too.”
Ireland beat the Germans in a U16 tournament game in Dublin last May and Mohan knows that while much of the personnel may be different, the Irish know that an upset victory tomorrow is not beyond their reach.
“The players have good memories of beating them last May at U16 level. That can only help with the confidence,” he said.
“You have got to go into the game believing you can get a result out of it. There is good spirit in them and they have shown in previous games that they can come from behind to get a result.
“We feel we have good attacking players. We have good mobility in our attack, we can get players into 1 v 1 positions high up the pitch and caused Serbia problems yesterday.
“We need to win thi game but we also have to be hard to play through. There will be stages where we will have a lot of pressure to deal with but we have got to put them on the back foot too. The first goal could be really important.”
Republic of Ireland U17 squad:
Evan Moran (West Bromwich Albion)
Matthew Connor (Waterford United)
Robin Walsh (Anderlecht)
Anto Breslin (Wolves)
Danny Kane (Huddersfield Town)
Robbie McCourt (St Kevins Boys)
Anto Dolan (Fulham)
Georgie Poynton (Dundalk)
Adam McDonnell (Shelbourne)
Tom Holland (Manchester City)
Shane Elworthy (Fulham)
Steven Kinsella (Templeogue United)
Conor Masterson (Lucan United)
Corey Whelan (Liverpool)
Stephen Best (Crumlin United)
Nathan Corkery (QPR)
Jesse Devers (Wolves)
Robbie Duggan (Peterborough United)
FIXTURES
26 March 2014
UEFA U17 Championship Elite Round Group 5
Serbia 2 Republic of Ireland 1, Stara Pazova (SRB)
28 March 2014
UEFA U17 Championship Elite Round Group 5
Germany v Republic of Ireland, FK Obilić, Belgrade (SRB) (2.00pm Irish)
31 March 2014
UEFA U17 Championship Elite Round Group 5
Republic of Ireland v Georgia, FK Obilić, Belgrade (SRB) (2.00pm Irish)
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