Ireland Men’s Under 18s' fell to a 4-0 defeat in the third of their preparation games for next year's U19 EURO qualifiers.

Rounding off a busy week, Ireland, who showed incredible determination to level late on against host’s Croatia on Saturday, were unable to follow up with a victory against a classy Portuguese side who took their chances on the day.

A spirited first half performance in which Ireland showed great shape and discipline to keep their opposition at bay was ultimately undone by a raft of second half changes that swung the game in Portugal's favour, as they netted four times after half-time.

Benfica’s Eduardo Fernandes made an instant impact after his introduction to open the scoring, with Sporting CP defender Rafael Mota doubling their lead minutes later.

Desperately trying to salvage something from the game, the brave young gun’s were then hit with another double late on with the substitutes Afonso Patrao and Salvador Blopa grabbing the third and fourth.

Head Coach Colin O'Brien had embraced the challenge of tough opponents and the three games offered his side a tough test over the last week.

And it will no doubt stand them in good stead and serve as an excellent learning curve as they aim to be involved in next Autumn’s 2025/26 UEFA Under-19 Qualifiers.

Ireland: Cian O’Shea, Harry McGlinchy, James Roche, Egor Vassessin (Matthew Murray, 83’), Luke O’Donnell (Adam Brennan, 46’), Kyle Fitzgerald, Ajibola Oluwabiyi (Daniel Mare, 54’), Raymond Offor (Joe Sheridan, 85’), Keilan Quinn (Sean Moore, 54’), Kaylem Harnett, Daniel Ring (Zak O’Sullivan, 54’)

Portugal: Matthias Da Silva (Diogo Ferreira, 46’), Rafael Mota, Tiago Silva (Edgar Mota, 77’), Rui Silva (Afonso Sousa, 88’), Eric Hamelberg (Tiago Ferreira, 64’), Daniel Costa (Salvador Blopa, 77’), Andre Miranda (Flavio Goncalves, 46’), Joao Capucho (Rodrigo Quintiaes, 88’), Gustavo Fereira (Rodrigo Marques, 64’), Denilson Santos (Eduardo Fernandes, 46’), Joao Trovisco (Afonso Patrao, 64’)

Referee: Mario Prpic (Croatia)

By Darryl Gerraghty