Whelan likely to captain Ireland against Saudis

WITH the evolution of the Irish youth team nearing completion, Glenn Whelan just wants the games of this 14th World U20 Championship to begin.

Manager Gerry Smith says he remains undecided on just who will captain the team with the opening match with Saudi Arabia just over 24 hours away.

But, having skippered the side in their two most recent games against Italy and Paraguay, Manchester City midfielder-cum-defender Whelan is the likely lad to wear the armband, despite the fact he’s a year younger than most of his team-mates. “It’s gone well and we’ve trained hard,” said Whelan. “Everyone is just keen to get the games going and get into it.”