A huge opportunity for the Ireland under-21s
Amidst the chaos and negativity which surrounds the Irish senior team at the moment, the Ireland under-21s stand as a beacon of hope as they look to make it two wins from two this international break when they take on Latvia tomorrow night.
After a crucial 1-0 victory in Istanbul on Friday night – thanks to the trusty right boot of Sam Curtis – Jim Crawford’s side sit second in the table, a point ahead of Norway and two behind Italy whom they have a game in hand on.
They welcome Latvia to Tallaght tomorrow night, who having amassed seven points from the same number of games, surprisingly sit 4th in the group ahead of Turkey on head-to-head.
All seven points have come when playing at home in Latvia though, and Ireland will come into the game full of confidence having beaten their opponents 2-1 back in October last year.
Crawford’s side showed an air of maturity in their second half performance against Turkey after a hesitant start and finished the game the better of the two sides in the heat of Istanbul (even if there were a few nervy moments near the finish).
The goal scorer Curtis stood out, alongside Huddersfield Town loanee Joe Hodge and Anselmo Garcia MacNulty of PEC Zwolle, who was a rock on the left side of the defence. Crawford will likely make a couple of changes considering the magnitude of his side’s performance that night, with a change of formation to a more positive 4-2-3-1 also likely.
Rocca Vata, who is top scorer for Ireland so far in the campaign in all likelihood will start, with a potential front four of Emakhu, Moran, Vata and Armstrong a frightening prospect for any opposition defence at this level.
Elsewhere, Norway host table toppers Italy in the other game of significance in Group A.
An Irish win, coupled with a Scandinavian three points, would not just send Ireland to the summit of the table and put qualification within reach (KO 5pm).
We could do with that right now.
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