Republic of Ireland U-17s 0-7 Germany Under-17s
The Republic of Ireland will play England in the quarter-finals at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship on Saturday afternoon despite being routed 7-0 by Germany in their final group game in Croatia earlier today.
Ireland were completely outclassed by their opponents in Rijeka on the Adriatic coast, falling three goals behind in the opening 20 minutes as Christian Wuck's clinical outfit ran riot.
All appeared lost for the Ireland, who conceded another four goals in the second period.
Germany captain Jann-Fiete Arp netted a hat-trick in the win, bringing his tally for the tournament to six goals.
However, Armin Imamovic netted in the last minute of Bosnia and Herzegovina's clash against against Serbia in the other game in Group C, which was played at the same time, resulting in a major shake-up in the standings.
Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia each finished on three points behind Germany, who topped the table with three wins from three games.
The teams' head-to-head records were used to decide the runner-up berth, with the sides having won three points against each other and ending level on goal difference.
Ireland and Bosnia and Herzegovina scored two goals each to Serbia's one, and as Ireland beat Bosnia, they joined Germany in Saturday's quarter-finals.
Colin O'Brien's charges will face either England after they beat 10-man Netherlands 3-0 later in the day.
Manchester City winger Jadon Sanchez scored twice and Chelsea's Callum Hudson-Odoi was also on target as England secured top spot ahead of the Dutch in Group D.
Speaking after Ireland's defeat, O'Brien reflected on a poor result but an ultimately satisfying outcome, saying: "We had a tough day today at the office. There will be a lot to learn for us from that game. We were second best for a lot of it. When you play a team like Germany and you don’t do the right things around your own box, they are clinical and they showed that today.
"However, it was about keeping it alive for the last match. With Bosnia winning, it has put us through to the quarter-final stage, the furthest we’ve got in 20 years so it’s a good day from that perspective."
Republic of Ireland: Maher, O’Connor (C), Ledwidge, Doherty, Collins; Bolger, Roache, O'Farrell; Byrne, Idah, Connolly
Germany: Plogmann, Nitzl, Hackethal, Becker, Boller, Awuku, Cetin, Arp (C), Abouchabaka, Mai, Ledewig, Malone
Follow live text commentary of Republic of Ireland Under-17 v England Under-17 from 4pm on Saturday on RTÉ.ie
