Oct 15,2024
While there may have been tears shed in the dressing room after the controversial late equaliser scored by Norway at Turners Cross last Friday, the Republic of Ireland Under-21s have no time to linger on any sense of injustice in Italy this evening.
Jim Crawford's side may have missed out on guaranteeing a European Championship qualifying play-off place with a match to spare but opportunity still knocks in Trieste four days on.
Should they pull off a famous away feat by beating current group leaders Italy, then the Boys in Green would qualify automatically on head-to-head results for a first ever European Under-21 Championship appearance by an Irish team.
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However, a defeat would leave them vulnerable to missing out on the consolation of a play-off altogether.
Whether they qualify or not, the main purpose of the U-21s is to bring through potential options for the senior team and a number of players have stood out during the campaign.
Attacking midfielder Andrew Moran, who's on loan at Stoke from Brighton, and Bristol City striker Sinclair Armstrong have already been capped once each by Ireland at full international level.
But they, along with that age-group's captain Joe Hodge, aren't the only ones that Heimir Hallgrimsson will be keeping an eye on, according to former Ireland U-17s, Sheffield Wednesday and UCD midfielder Paul Corry.
"Sinclair Armstrong is doing particularly well with Bristol City having moved there from QPR, so he's somebody who you could definitely see cracking on with his career.
"I think outside of that (trio), I mean Sean Roughan had a really good game (against Norway) from left wing-back the other night, a constant threat going forward and obviously got himself on the scoresheet but also nice and aggressive in defence when he needed to be.
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"And then other players who spring to mind, Bosun Lawal the centre-half. (He's) so, so good any time I've seen him, either playing in the middle of the park or dropping back into the centre of the three.
"Distribution is excellent, his physicality is perfect for those positions and more experience under his belt from a first team perspective, he's maybe one you could start to consider further down the line."
However, despite their potential, Corry added that patience is paramount before any of this current Under-21s crop are thrust into meaningful action in a senior jersey.
"I think it's very early even for the players that we mentioned to start considering them as starters for the senior team but any time you look at a '21s squad, you do think what two or three are going to be the ones that could potentially progress on and push on and challenge for the positions within the senior squad," he said.
"So they're definitely players that stand out and they're definitely players we can keep an eye on over the next 12-24 months."
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