Italy 2 Ireland 0: Italy taught the Republic of Ireland a harsh lesson on how to finish at the Beroe Stadium yesterday to leave Irish hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of these Uefa Under-17 Championships in Bulgaria hanging in the balance.

Uefa European U17 Championship

Seeing the Republic of Ireland name inscribed on the Uefa U17 championship trophy yesterday provided current boss Tom Mohan with added motivation as they kick off their 2015 challenge here in Bulgaria.

Tom Mohan has told his Republic of Ireland Under-17s to simply go and compete at next week’s UEFA championship finals in Bulgaria.