It’s all to play for as Irish U21s gunning for victory over Madeira
To win the tournament, Ireland must ensure victory over Madeira by a greater margin than Portugal achieve over Italy in the final game of the tournament. “Portugal are going to have to play afterwards so a 1-0 victory by us will mean they have to win. Any team that plays Italy is never guaranteed they are going to win. They won’t want to be going home with a wooden spoon, so if we win, we will put the pressure on them before they even go out onto the pitch and let’s see how they handle it,” manager Don Givens said.
“That’s the way we’ll be thinking of it. If we’re 1-0 up with ten minutes to go, that is three points if we hold on. At this point in time, I think I’d settle for a 1-0 win to put the pressure on them. Then we’ve got seven points from nine which would be very satisfying.