“The biggest games in the history of Ireland’s youth, Israel stands between us and a first appearance in the final tournament”: so wrote the Irish “Independent” ahead of the decisive pair of games between the under-21 teams in the playoffs for promotion to the youth Euros.
Tonight (Friday, 21:00) the first match will take place at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin (Shamrock Rovers’ home ground) and this Tuesday (September 27) the second leg will take place in Bloomfield. The winner of the summation of the two games will advance to the final tournament of the Euro under 21 which will be held in the summer of 2023 in Romania and Georgia. Unlike Israel, which appeared in the final tournament twice (qualifying in 2007 and hosting in 2013), the Irish have never done so.
The pair of meetings with Guy Luzon’s players were extensively covered in the Irish media, but in contrast, among the Irish fans there is no sense of madness as usually happens when the senior team plays. The Irish crowd is known for its zeal for the national team, its songs, its habit of drinking alcohol and the colorful atmosphere it adds to the games. However, unlike in the matches of the senior team (you will face Scotland the next day in the Nations League), the excitement and the sense of the history that is about to happen is felt mainly among the players and journalists and less among the average Irish fan.
As a result, Ireland fears that what happened in a crucial match of the local women’s team last month will be repeated this time as well. Then all the tickets were sold, but only 6,000 spectators came out of the 8,000 seats in the stadium. Many fans who bought tickets simply decided to stay at home for all kinds of reasons, including the weather, and now the association hopes not to see empty seats again even if all the tickets are sold.
Because of this, the association decided to release tickets for the game for 10 euros for an adult, 5 euros for a child and combined family tickets (two adults and two children) for 20 euros. the coach Jim Crawford He called on the fans to come and cheer: “We need the crowd to be behind us in this game. If anyone bought a ticket – please come.”
Crawford (49), the former midfielder of Newcastle who is known for his easy-going nature and his good relations with the journalists, did not have a particularly successful career as a footballer. He started at Bohemians (elected Young Footballer of the Season in 1994), also wore the uniforms of Rotherham United, Dundee United, Reading, Shelburne (with whom he won four All-Ireland championships) and Sporting Fingal and retired in 2008 after suffering a lot from injuries. He then worked as a temporary coach at Shamrock Rovers and since 2016 has been working in the Irish Association.
Did you know that Ireland U21 manager Jim Crawford only made two appearances for Newcastle and that one of them was in the second famous Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle game, the 97 version? Jim came on as a late substitute for Les Ferdinand, loved it the lad, really loved it. #coybig pic.twitter.com/3Cr3wZBK8q
— Eire Guide (@eireguide) March 7, 2021
First, Crawford served as Steven Kenny’s assistant in the youth team under the age of 18 and later replaced him in the position, when Kenny moved to coach the senior team and since April 2020 has been coaching the team under the age of 21. Crawford received criticism after the lack of success in the campaign leading up to Euro 2021, but under his guidance, “the boys in green” finished “The last tournament in second place in group 6 in the qualifiers after Italy. The Irish came to the last game in Ascoli knowing that a win would have given them first place and automatic promotion to the final tournament, but were defeated 4:1 by the “Azurini”.
Before that, the Irish secured second place and promotion to the playoffs thanks to victories 0:2 over Sweden away, 0:3 over Bosnia and 1:3 over Montenegro. Thanks to the achievement, they qualified for the 19th place in the UEFA ranking – the highest in their history. Crawford’s contract with the association will end after the pair of games against Israel and he is still conducting negotiations on his continuation, so the upcoming task is considered critical for him. He was recently mentioned as a candidate for Bohemians after the dismissal of Keith Long, and refused to comment on the issue: “I’m all focused on the mission against Israel, I’m flattered that news is being published about interest in me, but I don’t know if it’s true,” said the coach.
None of the Irish journalists believed his words, as everyone knows that someone who started his career at that club is very close to the management of Bohemians. This, for its part, is in no hurry to appoint a new coach and is looking forward to developments in his case, but it is estimated that his contract with the association will be extended.
Ahead of the upcoming games, Crawford said: “Israel is a very physical team, well organized and has some talent. It will certainly not be easy for us and it is exciting for my players to be involved in such games and try to make history. We feel that a good story is beginning. This is a serious test for us and if we pass it successfully It would be unbelievable.”
The senior stopper is injured and the left back is fit
Crawford uses a 4-2-3-1 formation, with the senior goalkeeper being Brian Maher from Derry City, who hopes to soon move to play in England and stood out in his team and national team matches with the saves he made and his footwork. The Irish defense suffered a heavy blow last week following the injury of the senior defender Mark McGuinness from Sheffield Wednesday (he played for many years at Arsenal and was unable to break into the first team), who usually contributes a lot with his physical play and ball handling.
In his absence, the two defenders who will be in the lineup are expected to be Iran Cashin from Derby County and Jake O’Brien from Belgian Molenbeek (on loan from Crystal Palace). Cashin (1.84 meters), one of the youngest in the team (20 years old), is considered a technical player who builds attacks from the back and one of the rising talents after he started playing for Derby County during the time when Wayne Rooney coached the team.
Lee O’Connor, on loan from Celtic to Tranmere Rovers, plays in the right-back position, one of the most experienced in the team who has already made 24 appearances and also one senior appearance in a friendly match against New Zealand. O’Connor began his career in Manchester United’s youth team and, as mentioned, also played in Celtic, but failed to progress in these two clubs. On the other hand, in Tranmere he plays regularly and because of this is considered Crawford’s favorite in this position.
Cardiff’s Joe Began is injured and in his place should be played at left-back by Shamrock Roberts’ Andy Lyons, who is in excellent form. He scored nine goals and made seven in his team’s uniform last season, which paved the way for the agreement for his transfer to Blackpool from the Championship this January (he will part ways with Shamrock for good in the summer of 2023). Lyons is considered one of the biggest talents in the League of Ireland and is capable of playing on both wings.
“I’ve seen Andy play many times, he’s about to play in the Championship and is in a fantastic place,” enthused Crawford. “It is possible that against Israel we will place him in a more forward position with all the goals he scores. It suits him to play on the left side, that way he can come from the outside with his strong foot.”
The captain is West Ham midfielder Conor Coventry (Lee O’Connor gets the tape in his place when needed), who made a record 26 appearances and three goals for the under-21 team. He was born in England and plays for the Irish national team thanks to his mother’s ancestry. His contract with the Hammers ends at the end of the season and if he does not take a permanent place in David Moyes’ lineup, he may leave as early as January.
Alongside Coventry, Joe Hodge, who started his career at Manchester City and has yet to make his Wolves debut, may play in the back half, to which he moved in 2021. Hodge, who is tipped to get a chance against Israel due to the injury to Norwich’s Gavin Kilkenny, impressed while playing for Ireland’s youth team but is yet to play for the under-21 team.
“It was a market”: Will Smallbone, bald, recovered from injury and starred in the qualifiers
The biggest threat to the Israeli goal is expected to come from midfielder Will Smallbone from Stoke (on loan from Southampton), who was one of the stars of the qualifiers. He scored three goals (a pair against Bosnia and a spectacular aerial kick against Montenegro) and scored one in the last three games, which placed him as a candidate to move up to senior level and serve as a regular player in a senior club in the future.
Smallbon, who in the clubs usually plays the role of the back midfielder and in the national team plays as a forward midfielder, was considered a great promise when he played in the Premier League for Southampton before the outbreak of the corona crisis, before he suffered a serious injury and suffered a rupture of the cruciate ligament in his knee.
When he returned to play in 2021 after an absence that lasted almost a year, he stood out smallbone Due to the baldness, after suffering massive hair loss during the recovery period. He struggled to recover and was loaned out to Stoke. “I couldn’t do anything after I underwent surgery and luckily my mother lived with me and my girlfriend helped me,” he told the Daily Echo in an interview.
“Besides, I also had to deal with losing my hair. It was very difficult and came at the worst time, because after all – you see me on TV and children look. It was a market for me to shave my whole head after I had a full head of hair before. You Talking about it with people and they don’t understand, because it didn’t happen to them. Even the doctors couldn’t tell me if it was because of the stress. The best thing people could do was to act naturally as if no big change had happened. In the end, it was just imagination “, said Smallbone.
In the absence of the injured Liam Kerrigan, the Italian replaces Festi Abusela from Udinese (usually a defender) to play on the right wing of the link. On the left wing stands out the fast Tyreek Wright, a Bradford player (on loan from Aston Villa) who scored 3 goals in 13 appearances for the youth team and is also known in his country as a die-hard fan of Manchester United and as a Gaelic football player (a popular sport in Ireland).
“Funny, debut against Israel”
The link may also include the surprising new invitee Finn Isaac Azaz, a player who was written about in the Irish media because he is of Israeli descent who is also allowed to play in the blue and white uniform. Crawford told the ‘Irish Sun’: “It was funny, when we talked, Finn talked about the fact that he might make his first appearance for the national team against Israel.”
Azaz, on loan from Aston Villa to Third Division side Plymouth, began his career at West Bromwich Albion. Last year, when he played in Newport, he was chosen for the 11th of the season in the fourth division in England and the outstanding young player in it thanks to the seven goals he scored and the many assists he recorded. Azaz was born in England and plays for the Irish national team thanks to the fact that this is the country of birth of his grandparents. This season he scored three goals in 10 games for Plymouth.
Crawford praised the player: “Finn is a talented player with a lot of energy and you can see his dedication and the goals he scores. Just an exciting, intelligent and mature player. I followed him when he was playing in the youth team and he was not called up then only because I could only call up 18 players. Now he will add We have a lot.” manager plymouth, Steven Schumacheragreed: “Finn has been simply fantastic since he came to us and I’m not surprised that they invited him to the Irish team.”
Aron Connolly from the Italian Venice (on loan from Brighton) has already made it to the senior team but has not played in its ranks in the last year and was included in the squad for Israel after not appearing in the youth team in the last three years. Connolly is trying to get back to his best form after last year’s disappointing season in which he played on loan at Middlesbrough. “Aron has moved away from all the distractions that caused his bad period and I’m glad he’s with us,” Crawford said. “He will add a lot to us. If you have an exceptional player that you can add, then why not? But I made it clear to him that he will not get a place in the lineup automatically, but will have to prove himself.”
Crawford has other strikers at his disposal, such as Evan Ferguson from Brighton (17 years old, son of former defender Barry Ferguson), who is predicted to have a great future in the Premier League, the fast and strong Mipo Odobko from Fort Vale (on loan from West Ham), who scored one of the goals against Bosnia, and Joshua Kayoda (born in Nigeria) from Milton Keynes Dons.
The Irish have other players in the senior team who are allowed to play in the national team until the age of 21, but did not move to its ranks despite the importance of the task, and even though the senior team’s campaign is practically over (its upcoming games against Scotland and Armenia are unimportant). These are goalkeeper Gavin Bazono from Southampton, defender Andrew Omobamidela from Norwich (injured and not invited to the senior season either), stopper Nathan Collins from Wolves, midfielder Jason Knight from Derby County and striker Troy Parrott from Preston North End.
“I can’t make so many changes,” clarified Crawford who is expected to field a similar vehicle to the one he played in the qualifiers. “The players who advanced us to this position deserve the opportunity and the others already play a serious role in the senior team.” Other players who will be absent due to injuries are midfielder Luca Connell from Barnsley, assistant goalkeeper David Harrington from Cork City (a candidate for Everton) and striker Adam Ida from Norwich.