Ireland set to face Holland in send-off game for Euro 2016
In a major coup for the FAI, Danny Blind will bring his Dutch outfit to Dublin 4 for the friendly which is likely to be played on Sunday, May 22.
His side, of course, are the conspicuous absentee from next summer’s showpiece in France, after failing to make it out of their qualifying group.
It is the first time since 1984 that the Dutch, winners of the tournament in 1988, won’t feature at the European finals.
Martin O’Neill won’t mind as it affords him the opportunity of testing his Ireland side against one of Europe’s superpowers, providing excellent preparation for the Group E ties with Sweden, Belgium and Italy.
Several of the Dutch squad which came within a penalty shoot-out of reaching the 2014 World Cup final should still be available, including the manager’s son, Daley Blind, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, though Robben will be hoping a Champions League final date that week scuppers his availability.
By then, O’Neill will have assessed his options in the double-header friendly against Switzerland and Slovakia, on March 25 and 29 respectively.
But the Dutch workout could act as the final rehearsal for candidates to play their way into the final 23-man squad to be submitted by June 3.
It will be Ireland’s 20th meeting against the Netherlands and the first in nine years since Steve Staunton’s side were on the end of a 4-0 mauling in Dublin.
Ireland’s players, however, will be in a different place to 2006, keen to cement their places for France whilst giving Irish fans something to remember on their farewell outing.
Following that test, O’Neill and his assistant Roy Keane are expected to bring the squad to a warm-weather training camp for a week in a country near to France.
Spain is a realistic option, yet Austria could be chosen instead in the coming days as the FAI finalise their pre-tournament itinerary.
That spell will be broken by another friendly, the fourth in total since qualification was secured, either away from home or on neutral territory.
From there, the Ireland party journey to France, where they’ll be based at the salubrious Trianon Palace Hotel in Versailles and train at the nearby Montbauron Stadium.
This part of the plan, leading up to the opener against Sweden in Stade de France on June 13, will be confirmed today.
Meanwhile, demand for tickets from Irish fans for that first game will likely be accommodated, albeit patience may be required.
Uefa have confirmed that at least 17% of tickets are to be allocated to each nation per fixture, while returns from other countries will be distributed evenly amongst the opponents.
That means close to 14,000 of the 80,000-capacity national stadium are guaranteed for the Green Army, over and above tickets sourced directly through Uefa’s various sales rounds.
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