Andorra ask permission to host Irish in Barcelona

IRELAND are bound for Barcelona in October.

The FAI have confirmed that the Andorran Football Association have written to UEFA to request that the Euro 2012 qualification match on October 7 be played in the Catalan capital.

The AFA made the request following discussions with the FAI about accommodating what is expected to be a large travelling Irish support for the game. The FAI have said that they will notify fans when UEFA make a decision.

Although, pending that confirmation, the actual match venue has not yet been confirmed, it is understood that the front-runner is Espanyol’s new home, the Estadi Cornella-El Prat, a 40,500-seater stadium which was officially opened in August 2009.

Meanwhile, former Ireland captain Kenny Cunningham believes that Sunderland will be getting the best of the deal should John O’Shea’s proposed move from Manchester United go through.

Cunningham said: “It’s a good move for Sunderland, just because of John’s quality, experience and his versatility as well. He can occupy a number of positions across the back and also as a holding midfielder.

“He’s a low-maintenance type of player too and you can’t have enough of them. You know what you are going to get out of him is he’ll do a good job for the team, he won’t cause any ripples around the dressing room and is a good personality around the football club.

“Certainly for Sunderland, I can understand the manager’s desire to bring him to the football club.

“But I’m surprised that Alex Ferguson is looking to let him go, for the reasons that I’ve said.

Cunningham, who has been named as Damien Richardson’s assistant in the management of the Airtricity League side for the forthcoming Dublin Super Cup, says he thinks the tournament — which also features Celtic, Inter Milan and Manchester City — will provide an ideal shop window for some of the leading talents in the domestic league.

“Very much so,” he said. “There’ll be a big television audience in many countries watching and there’s always a couple of players who maybe have slipped by the scouting networks. So it’s a great opportunity for people like Gareth McGlynn, Karl Sheppard, James McClean and others who’ve impressed me.”

In terms of his own coaching aspirations, Cunningham said that he is not looking beyond the tournament on July 30 and 31.

“My focus for now is on this competition,” he says. “People say it will be a great experience for our players to play against opponents of this calibre but, in my experience, the greatest satisfaction comes from being competitive. When you shake hands at the end of the game, you want to know that you’ve put it up to them and made it difficult for them.

“That’s what we’re looking for when the players come off the pitch on the Saturday and Sunday.”

The Airtricity XI face Man City at 2pm on Saturday, July 30 and Celtic at the same time the following day at the Aviva Stadium.

Richardson, who will shortly trim his preliminary squad of 35 to 22, says that all the selected players can expect to feature over the course of the two games in what he fully expects will be a seriously competitive tournament.