Ireland's CP Soccer team faces England today in a crunch clash at the CPISRA Intercontinental Cup, being hosted by the Spanish federation in the Catalan town of Sant Cugat Del Vallés.

There is little to stir the soul of an Irish sportsperson more than taking on the Auld Enemy. Whether it is rugby, tennis, golf, football or tiddly winks, we tend to have that extra bit of motivation when we take on England, and garner that little bit more satisfaction from beating them.

It is no different for the cerebral palsy football team competing in the CPISRA Intercontinental Cup.

Ireland had a very tough opening to their Group B programme against World and Paralympic champions Russia on Sunday morning, but the 6-0 scoreline was a trifle harsh.

They recovered in some style last night by cruising to a 7-0 win over Venezuela, with 16-year-old Dillon Sheridan scoring four goals on his first international start.

It was a fairytale introduction for the teenager, who leapt to the top of the competition's goalscoring charts alongside Jonathan Paterson of Scotland and Canada's Matt Brown in one fell swoop.

Sheridan, who plays with his native Ballyfermot United, wasn't even aware there was a specific CP programme until being approached by a member of the national side's coaching staff after a game last year.

A Class 8 player – meaning he has the lowest level impairment – this is his first major tournament and it goes without saying that he is enjoying it immensely so far.

"I was delighted with how last night went" said a grinning Sheridan after yesterday's training session. "It was great. I wouldn't be used to the likes of this at home. You're usually playing locally on a brutal pitch and then you come here playing in stadiums and you get to be professional for a while, training every day."

His favourite goal of Tuesday's individual highlight reel was his fourth, because "I robbed it on me mate" Luke Evans. This is a camp where morale is very high indeed.

This is a credit to the coaching staff of course. Paul Cassin, himself an 84-times capped international, has been involved as manager for many years now and he was particularly pleased with how they handled Venezuela.

"They're a very hard team to play against. They didn't cross their half-way line, they played six across the box and on a small pitch it was hard to break them down" explained Cassin.

"We watched them two nights before against England and they played the exact same way, so we just wanted the lads to be patient and not get frustrated."

Instructions were followed to the letter, with devastating results. Meanwhile, England only knocked five past the South Americans, and shipped eight goals against Russia. With goal difference in Ireland's favour, a draw will be enough to secure a quarter-final berth, almost certainly against Netherlands, as well as automatic qualification to the World Championships.

Sheridan has played against England once, in January at St George's Park when Ireland were heavily beaten, but Cassin says that game will bear no relevance at Can Magi tomorrow night.

"We hadn't Luke, we hadn't Gary Messett, which are two big players for us. And they played all their Class 8s, whereas tomorrow they can only play one.

"As you know, at all levels against England, there's no love lost. We're going out with a specific game plan against England and hopefully we get through and we can concentrate then on the quarter-finals against Holland.

"When you've a young lad of 16 years of age scoring four goals on his first start, that bodes well for the future. Our other Class 8, Tom (Badun) is also 16 years of age. Both of them are as good as each other so when you can only play one, it's a difficult one selecting them.

"The difference between Tuesday and this game is that England need to beat us. They're not going to be sitting back like Venezuela and we certainly won't be sitting back to let them come onto us. We'll play our normal game and see where that takes us."

IRELAND SQUAD: Brian McGillivary, Simon Le Strange, Luke Evans, Joe Markey, Gary Messett, Darragh Byrne, Darragh Snell, Aaron Tier, Peter Cotter, Tom Badun, Dillion Sheridan, Ryan Nolan, Paraic Leacy, Eric O'Flaherty

SCHEDULE (IRISH TIME)

Thursday, August 1
Ireland v England (ZEM Can Magi), 6.30pm

Sunday, August 4
Round 2

Wednesday-Thursday, August 7-8
Round 3

Friday-Saturday, August 9-10
Final Round