Ireland Men’s Under-19 Head Coach Tom Mohan will lead a squad of 20 players to Moldova this week for their UEFA European Under-19 Championship Qualifiers.

They face the hosts Moldova on Wednesday afternoon before taking on Azerbaijan on Saturday morning. Mohan’s team’s final qualifier comes against Iceland on Tuesday, November 19.

Teams finishing in the top two of the group will progress to next spring’s Elite Round of qualifiers with an opportunity to reach the finals in Romania.

Speaking ahead of this week’s qualifiers, Tom Mohan said: “They’re a great group of boys who have been scouted on a regular basis by our staff and scouting team. They’re (the squad) really positive and have come through some tough games, which can only help their development.

“We’ve had two good windows with them. We started our season off against France, and they don’t get much tougher than that. We’ve come up against Kazakhstan, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece and Mexico, they all presented us with different styles and challenges and I’m really pleased with how the boys performed in these games and especially in the recent Croatia Tournament where the boys showed great quality and spirit to beat Mexico in our last game to top the group.

“There are very few easy games in international football. You can see the work that is going on from countries who didn’t have the infrastructure in the past. Their facilities are getting better, as are their academy structures, their teams, and their coaching and it is tougher than ever to qualify.

“No nation can be underestimated and we know we’ll be in for big tests in each of our games.

“I saw this Moldova team at Under-18 level lose 2-1 in June against the Turkish Under-19s, who were then preparing for the Under-19 EURO finals. Moldova have been very active in their player eligibility recruitment with players coming in from various parts of Europe and playing in countries such as Spain, Italy and Germany and will pose a real attacking threat. Azerbaijan are a country that are developing a number of very good players and then you have Iceland who are always well organised and tough opponents with an impressive track record of producing very good Players through the years. 

“These are three massive games, which we as a group of staff and players, have put a lot of work and preparations into and look forward to the challenges ahead.”

Republic of Ireland Men’s Under-19s Squad

Goalkeepers: Oisin Cooney (Finn Harps), Marcus Gill (Celtic)

Defenders: Stanley Ashbee (Hull City), Jacob Devaney (Manchester United), Jake Grante (Crystal Palace), Sean Keogh (Dundalk), Cathal McCarthy (UCD), Cory O’Sullivan (Shamrock Rovers), Freddie Turley (Derby County).

Midfielders: Romeo Akachukwu (Southampton), Niall McAndrew (Derby County), Thomas Morley (Sligo Rovers), Aaron Ochoa Moloney (Malaga CF), Daire Patton (Sligo Rovers)  Naj Razi (Como).

Forwards: Cian Dillon (Shamrock Rovers), Trent Kone Doherty (Liverpool), Cathal O’Sullivan (Cork City), Nickson Okosun (Bohemians), Ike Orazi (Stade de Reims).

Ireland’s UEFA European Under-19  Championship Qualifiers (All kick-offs are Irish time)

Wednesday, November 13 | Ireland v Moldova, Nisporeni Central, Nisporeni, Moldova, KO 12:00
Saturday, November 16 | Ireland v AzerbaiJan, Zimbru 2, Chisinau, Moldova, KO 10:00
Tuesday, November 19 | Iceland v Ireland, Zimbru 2, Chisinau, Moldova, KO 11:00