Doolin names squad, as Ireland prepare for under-19 UEFA Championship finals

Preparations have begun in earnest for the Under-19 UEFA Championship finals, with Paul Doolin naming an 18-man squad earlier today.

Those named in the squad included Bray Wanderers striker, Conor Murphy, Watford’s Sean Murray and Joe Shaughnessy from Aberdeen – the three scorers of the goals that sent Ireland through in their final qualifying match against Italy.

It is the first time that Ireland have qualified for the eight-team competition since 2002, having emerged from a group that also featured Ukraine and Poland.

The side play Greece in their opening match on 20 July and will be in confident form, having gone seven games without losing. The other games take place on 23 July (Czech Republic) and 26 July (Romania).

The winner and runner-up of the group will advance to the semi-finals, which will be played on 29 July, before the final on 1 August.

Speaking following the squad announcement, manager Paul Doolin said:

“Picking just 18 players for this squad for the UEFA Championship finals has been an incredibly difficult task but I believe that the players selected are here on merit and our main priority must now be our opening game against Greece on July 20. We will approach the finals like any other qualification phase and first aim to get out of the group and take this championship one game at a time.”

Ireland won the competition for the first and only time in 1998, beating Germany on penalties, with a side that featured a young John O’Shea amongst others.

Republic of Ireland squad: Samir Carruthers (Aston Villa), Matt Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers), John Egan (Sunderland), Kane Ferdinand (Southend United), Anthony Forde (Wolverhampton Wanderers) Jeff Hendrick (Derby County), Kevin Knight (N/A), Aaron McCarey (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Sean McDermott (Arsenal), Conor Murphy (Bray Wanderers), Sean Murray (Watford), John O’ Sullivan (Blackburn Rovers) Anthony O’Connor (Blackburn Rovers), Joe Shaughnessy (Aberdeen), Connor Smith (Watford), Declan Walker (Wrexham), Eoin Wearen (West Ham United), Derrick Williams (Aston Villa).