The Republic of Ireland U17 and U19 squads received tough assignments today when the draws for the Elite Phase of the 2013-14 UEFA Championships were made.
Tom Mohan’s U17 squad, who were fourth seeds, were drawn against Germany, Serbia and Georgia, while Paul Doolin’s U19 side, who were second seeds, were drawn against defending champions Serbia, Turkey and Iceland.
The U17s qualified for the Elite Phase after finishing second in a group that contained England, Armenia and Gibraltar and will travel to Serbia for games on 26, 28 and 31 March.
However, the U19s, who qualified for the Elite Phase after winning a group that contained Sweden, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Azerbaijan, will host the group with matches taking place on 28, 30 May and 2 June.
After playing 25 consecutive competitive games away from home since he became U19 manager, Paul Doolin is delighted to be looking forward to a run of games at home.
“You wait a long time for one to come along and then you get two in a row,” he said as his side will also host their qualifying round group in the 2014-15 Championship next November.
“I am absolutely delighted that we are going to host the group after 25 away games even though we have an excellent record away from home with 11 wins and eight draws. It’s great for the players and hopefully we will get plenty of support because they are all tough games.”
The draws for the qualifying rounds of the 2014-15 UEFA U17 and U19 Championships also took place today in Nyon, Switzerland and Ireland will host both qualifying groups.
The U17s have been drawn against Scotland, Faroe Islands and Gibraltar with the matches taking place on 22, 24 and 27 September.
The U19s have been drawn against Switzerland, Malta and Gibraltar with the matches taking place on 13, 15 and 18 November.
Venues for all the matches will be finalised at a later date.
