Republic of Ireland Under-17 Head Coach Colin O’Brien has named 20-man squad for two friendlies against Mexico in Turner’s Cross, Cork.

A limited number of fans will have the chance to catch a glimpse of the next generation of Irish internationals with 600 free tickets made available for spectators.

For information on securing tickets to the games fans can visit https://www.universe.com/events/u17s-international-friendly-republic-of-...

It will be final preparation for the U17s ahead of their UEFA Under-17 European Championship qualifiers which also take place in Cork in October.

O’Brien’s youngsters face North MacedonIa, Poland and Andorra in the first round of qualifiers but before that they take on North American opposition in the Rebel County with games on Sunday, September 5 and Tuesday, September 7.

Speaking ahead of the games, O’Brien said: “To get this level of opposition is a real huge plus for us. Mexico is a real powerhouse at this age group if you research and examine their age groups in the past couple of years they’re a World Cup standard team and that will the standard over the two games we will be playing.

“It’s a very ‘homebased squad’ and it’s the first squad we’re going to see around the Brexit situation but the players are well into their season and we’ve done a lot of homebased assessments and training camps over the last few months and a lot of games watched.

“We’ve 20 players ready to represent the Republic of Ireland Under-17s against high-level opposition so the players are going to be really tested here, both collectively and individually, and it will give them a good measure to where they’re at.”

Republic of Ireland Under-17 squad

Goalkeepers: Fintan Doherty (Derry City), Conor Walsh (Sligo Rovers)

Defenders: Luke Browne (Shelbourne), Sam Curtis (St. Patrick's Athletic), Cathal Heffernan (Cork City), Ruadhan Kane (Klub Kildare), Daniel Kelly (Sligo Rovers), Luke O'Brien (St. Patrick's Athletic)

Midfielders: Justin Ferizaj (Shamrock Rovers), Gavin Hodgins (Shelbourne), Darius Lipsivc (St. Patrick's Athletic), James McManus (Bohemians), Rocco Vata (Celtic)

Forwards: Trent Kone Doherty (Derry City), Mark O'Mahony (Cork City), Caden McLoughlin (Villareal), Liam Murray (Cork City), Alex Nolan (St Patrick's Athletic), Franco Umeh (Cork City), Kevin Zefi (Inter Milan)

Fixtures – International Friendlies (all times are Irish times)

Sunday, September 5 | Republic of Ireland U17 v Mexico U17, Turner’s Cross, Cork, KO: 7pm
Tuesday, September 7 | Republic of Ireland U17 v Mexico U17, Turner’s Cross, Cork KO: 12pm