The Republic of Ireland U19 squad maintained a good record of consistency in the qualifying stages of the UEFA Championship by advancing once again to the second, elite stage, of the 2010 Championship.

Ireland opened their programme for 2009 at this level by competing at the same stage of the UEFA Championship of 2009 in Belgium.

They were drawn against Belgium, favourites Switzerland and Sweden and the four teams competed in a round robin tournament with the winners, only, going forward to the finals.

Ireland's U19s, under manager Sean McCaffrey, took part in a three-day training camp in Dublin in preparation for the tournament. They travelled to Belgium in June with hopes high but the schedule was not favourable to them.

Ireland had to face the hosts, Belgium, in their opening match and despite a spirited performance, they were beaten 1-0. The only goal came after 37 minutes and Belgium withstood Ireland's best efforts at securing an equaliser.

Ireland now faced a difficult task and it was rendered impossible when they were heavily defeated by Switzerland 6-1 next time out. Their 2-1 win over Sweden in their third match was of little consolation to a disappointed group as Switzerland advanced to the final tournament.

Ireland were left to prepare for the preliminary qualifying competition of the UEFA Championship of 2010. Manager McCaffrey went through the process of offering all of Ireland's eligible players an opportunity of making the championship squad at a warm-up tournament in Dublin in September.

This tournament followed the pattern of the qualifying tournaments with Netherlands, Turkey and Portugal joining Ireland in a round-robin competition. And Ireland excelled against high-quality opposition.

Ireland drew the opening match 1-1 with Netherlands, beat Turkey 2-0 and played some splendid football as they went under 0-1 to Portugal in their final contest.

The work that was down in the course of the tournament paid rich dividends when the preliminary qualifying tournament of the Championship was played in San Marino in November of 2009. Ireland were drawn with San Marino, Albania and favourites Italy.

Ireland and Italy had identical 5-0 wins in their opening matches with Ireland overcoming the hosts, San Marino. And Ireland made sure of advancing to the second elite phase by beating Albania 2-0.

Italy also won their second match and with a superior goals record to Ireland they needed a draw in the final series to finish as winners of the group. They defeated Ireland 2-0 while Albania defeated San Marino to finish third.

Ireland's defeat would have serious consequences when the draw for the second elite qualifying phase was made in Nyon, Switzerland. Ireland were presented with a huge task as they were drawn with Ukraine, England and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

The tournament will be played in the Ukraine from May 26 to the 31st, 2010, with the winners, only, advancing to the final of the Championship in France next Summer.

Ireland find themselves in the most difficult group for Ukraine won the Championship of 2009 when the final tournament was played in Ukraine. And they beat England in the final in Donetsk on August 2, 2009 before 25,000 spectators.

This was the 25th celebration of the tournament and the first that was won by the host nation of the finals tournament. So Ireland will go there in May to take on the reigning champions and the runners-up before fans who will offer huge support to the home team.

It will obviously be a challenging task but Ireland will draw encouragement from their consistently good performances in 2009 and will look back for inspiration to 1998 when Ireland won the Championship for the only time in their history.

The Republic of Ireland U19 results in 2009 -

UEFA U19 Championship 2009 - 2010 - Elite Qualifying Phase

05/06/'09: Belgium 1 - 0 Republic of Ireland U19
                Eden Hazard 37

07/06/'09: Republic of Ireland 1 - 6 Switzerland
              Sean Scannell             Unal, Koch, Lang, Pache (2), Mustafi

10/06/'09: Republic of Ireland U19 2 - 1 Sweden, in Belgium
               Aaron Doran 29                      Jesper Floren 65
               James Collins 73

UEFA U19 Championship 2009 - 2010

Clarion Hotel, Four Nations Tournament in Dublin

05/09/'09: Republic of Ireland 1 - 1 Netherlands, Carlisle Grounds
                Callum O'Connor 26         Ebicilio 87
06/09/'09: Republic of Ireland 2 - 0 Turkey, Richmond Park
                Conor Clifford 27, 78
08/09/'09: Republic of Ireland 0 - 1 Portugal, Tallaght

UEFA U19 Championship, 2009 - 2010

First Phase Qualifying tournament in San Marino

13/11/'09: Republic of Ireland 5-0 San Marino
                Conor Henderson 17
                Joe Mason 43, 58
                Jamil Adam 74
                James Keohane 85

15/11/'09: Republic of Ireland 2-0 Albania
               Aaron Doran (pen) 56
              Conor Henderson 84

18/11/'09: Republic of Ireland 0-2 Italy
                                                   Mattia Destro 62, 64

UEFA U19 Championship, 2009 - 2010

Draw for second phase qualifying tournament to be played in Ukraine

To be played in Ukraine from May 26 - 31, 2010.

Group 3
Ukraine, England, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Latest News