The Republic of Ireland Under-19 lost the second game of the Oporto Under-19 Invitational tournament 1-0 to hosts Portugal in Vila Nova this evening.
Ireland manager Sean McCaffrey made seven changes to his team from the side which drew 1-1 with Germany on Wednesday in order to assess all of the 18 players in his squad.
Portugal scored the only goal of the match after 16 minutes through a wonderful long-range strike by Candeias that left Ireland goalkeeper Shane Redmond with no chance.
The host nation sprayed the ball around with a great deal of fluency in the first-half and Ireland could count themselves fortunate not to have been further behind by the half-time mark.
Ireland manager Sean McCaffrey made a double substitution at the interval, bringing Keith Treacy and Shane Lowry on to add more invention in attack.
Blackburn Rovers Treacy was particularly influential as Ireland upped the tempo in search of an equaliser.
He fired a shot from just outside of the penalty area which had Portugal goalkeeper Happiness scampering across his line to save.
Treacy turned provider for Ireland’s best chance of rescuing a draw from the game late on. He sprinted past his marker on the left-wing before sending in a cross to the far post where both Alan Judge and Robert Bayly had taken up great positions but neither got the touch it required to slot home from close-range.
Germany beat Ukraine 1-0 in the other group game played today, leaving them and the hosts to compete for the trophy in their clash on Saturday. Ireland face Ukraine, also on Saturday, in Leca Palmeira (kick-off 9am).
The second, Elite qualifying stage of the UEFA Championship in Dublin will be played from May 14 to 19. Only the top team after a round robin series will go forward to the UEFA finals in Austria. The finals will run from July 16 to 27.
