Flurry of friendlies before Euro showdown
FAI chief executive John Delaney yesterday confirmed plans to play two games in the US in early June, following on from home and away meetings with, respectively, Turkey and Italy in late May.
And he added that the intention is to play a further friendly in early September, a few days before Ireland open their Euro 2016 campaign away to Georgia on Sunday 7th of that month.
Delaney said: “In principle, we have agreed to play Costa Rica in Philadelphia on June 6 and also agreed to play Portugal in New York on June 10.
“There are no kick-off times yet, I think there are TV issues to be worked out, that sort of stuff.”
Prior to those games, Ireland will have played Turkey in the Aviva Stadium on May 25 and Italy in Craven Cottage, London on May 31.
Then, in September, the plan is to fit in one final warm-up game, in Dublin, most likely on Thursday September 4, according to the FAI boss.
“I think we will play one friendly match here before we go to Georgia because the August friendly date is now gone,” he said. “In Trapattoni’s era he just went and played Armenia (in September) but he had the benefit of the August game. I think Martin would like to play a game here in September. So I think we will play then — we have one or two possibilities.”
Meanwhile, Delaney has said that it would be “a major achievement” if the FAI were successful in their bid to be a host for the Euro 2020 finals.
“We bid for Euro 2008 with Scotland but that wasn’t realistic because we had no stadiums,” he recalled. “They the (Uefa inspectors) were brought out to Abbotstown and shown an empty field and brought to Croke Park who hadn’t made a decision to open it to soccer. This realistically is our best opportunity. To play four games here, three group games and a last 16, would be brilliant. It would raise the profile of the game. To be in it, would be the dream.”
Making it even more rewarding, of course, would be Irish qualification for the expanded tournament which would see the team play two group games at home and one away.
Said Delaney: “To fast forward, to be here in six years’ time, to have two home games in the Euros, in our own stadium in our own city, would be a wonderful achievement. It’s not going to be easy, both parts — qualifying will never be easy and of course hosting will be difficult.”
The FAI’s application is to be made on April 25 with a decision to be announced in September. Speaking in the Aviva Stadium at yesterday’s announcement of Irish Sports Council funding for 2014, the FAI boss also gave an upbeat assessment of the game’s development here in the face of ongoing challenges. “We’ve to react to the changes in association football,” he said.
“We all know that there are more foreign players playing in the English Premiership than ever. That’s restricting countries like England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We have reacted somewhat to that and I think over the next year you will see even a stronger reaction to that with the national development plan and the building of our campus and the introduction of the under 17 national league next year.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
