Colin O’Brien’s Under 17’s open their UEFA European Under 17 Championship campaign in Kostrena tomorrow as they face Serbia.
The Republic of Ireland arrived by the Adriatic on Monday to continue preparations following a two-day training camp in Ireland prior to departure.
Ireland Under 17’s come into the competition in fine form following an impressive qualifying campaign that yielded six wins from six games, scoring 16 goals and keeping four clean sheets.
Speaking ahead of the group opener, Head Coach Colin O’Brien said, “Preparation has gone well so far. We’ve had one final pitch session today and we’re now ready to go for the Serbia game tomorrow. We’ve a couple of niggles, a couple of players to keep an eye on and make one or two decisions on before kick off. We’ll assess it today and then we’ll be able to make our final decision.”
Coming through two qualifying rounds unbeaten illustrated the ability and desire of O’Brien’s side, with the team aiming to make a huge impact at this tournament.
“The mood is great in the camp. This group of players are very mature. There is a very good team dynamic with them and a very good team spirit. They are all looking forward to this opportunity. We know the challenges that will be there in the group stages but we have got to be solely focussed on game one and take it from there,” O’Brien stated.
Qualifying for Croatia as a best runner-up in the Elite Round, Serbia will provide Ireland with a huge test in Thursday’s game. O’Brien is under no illustions as to the size of the task facing his side.
“Serbia will be a very big challenge. They are a good side with huge physicality right through the spine of the team. They have a pretty good mix, they can play a possession game or go direct and will be a big threat from set pieces.
“That being said, we’ve identified areas of their game we feel we can exploit and that is something we’ll be very focussed on,” he concluded.
Live minute-by-minute updates of Republic of Ireland v Serbia will be available on FAI.ie with further updates on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram throughout the day.
Republic of Ireland Under 17 Squad - UEFA European Under 17 Championship
Goalkeepers: Brian Maher (St Patrick’s Athletic), Kian Clarke (Bohemians)
Defenders: Lee O’Connor (Manchester United), Kameron Ledwidge (St Kevin’s Boys), Nathan Collins (Cherry Orchard), Jordan Doherty (Sheffield United), Daryl Walsh (Waterford FC), Joe Redmond (Birmingham City)
Midfielders: Aaron Bolger (Shamrock Rovers), Luke Nolan (St Patrick’s Athletic), Brandon Kavanagh (Bohemians), Richard O’Farrell (St Patrick’s Athletic), Gavin Kilkenny (Bournemouth), Callum Thompson (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Forwards: Rowan Roache (Blackpool), Adam Idah (College Corinthians), Aaron Connolly (Brighton & Hove Albion), Tyreik Wright (Lakewood AFC)
Fixtures
Thursday, 4 May: Republic of Ireland v Serbia, Stadium Kostrena, KO 15:30 Irish Time
Sunday 7 May: Republic of Ireland v Bosnia & Herzegovina, Stadium Kostrena, Kostrena, KO 15:30 Irish Time
Wednesday, 10 May: Republic of Ireland v Germany, Stadium Rujevica, Rijeka, KO 11:00 Irish Time, LIVE on Eurosport 1
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