Republic of Ireland Men’s Under-21s will go into their final June friendly against Qatar Under-23s looking to end the international window on a high.

Ireland produced a positive performance against hosts Croatia in a 2-2 draw on Saturday with Sam Curtis and Sean Grehan getting the goals in Vrbovec.

Five players made their Under-21s debut on Saturday and Head Coach Jim Crawford is expected to make further changes for Tuesday’s game. They are without Rory Finneran who had been scheduled to only play Croatia having  already completed a post-season friendly for the senior team against Grenada.
 

Match Details

Republic of Ireland MU21 v Qatar MU23
International Friendly
Tuesday, June 9
Gradski Stadion, Vrbovec, Zagreb, Croatia
Kick-off 3.45pm (Irish time) / 4.45pm (local time)
 

Team News

No injury concerns with Jim Crawford having a full squad to select from

Quotes

Ireland Under-21s Forward Gbemi Arubi: ”It’s great to have been involved in my first Under-21s camp. I’m seeing a  lot of very talented players training every day and they’ve been pushing me and get me to the level. Day-by-day they were pushing me so by the time I got my chance to come on I felt prepared.

“Qatar will be a tough team. They’ll be physical and they’ll move the ball quick a few of them will be much older but we’ve to be physical too and not them bully us and push us around.”

Ireland Men’s Under-21 Squad

Goalkeepers: Noah Jauny (Stade Brestois), Aaron Maguire (Tottenham Hotspur), Conor Walsh (Shelbourne).

Defenders: Sam Curtis (Sheffield United), Oisin Gallagher (Lincoln City), Sean Grehan (Doncaster Rovers), Sean Keogh (Brighton & Hove Albion), Conor McManus (Brentford), Cory O’Sullivan (Shamrock Rovers), David Okagbue (Peterborough United).

Midfielders: Jacob Devaney (Manchester United), Rory Finneran (Newcastle United)*, Gabriel Kelly (Stoke City), Darius Lipsiuc (Stoke City), Jamie Mullins (Wycombe Wanderers), Cillian Murphy (Cork City), John O’Sullivan (Shamrock Rovers), Naj Razi (Shamrock Rovers), Harry Vaughan (Bohemians, on loan from Hull City).

Forwards: Gbemi Arubi (Dundalk), Tommy Lonergan (Waterford), Kian McMahon Brown (Burnley), Michael Noonan (Shamrock Rovers).

*Scheduled to play Croatia fixture only