John O'Shea: U21s within 'touching distance' of qualification

Former Man Utd star O’Shea has declared that the Republic of Ireland U21s are within 'touching distance' of being the first side from this country to make a major finals at the grade

1 June 2022; Assistant coach John O'Shea during a Republic of Ireland U21's press conference at FAI Headquarters in Abbotstown, Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

John O’Shea has declared that the Republic of Ireland U21s are within “touching distance” of being the first side from this country to make a major finals at the grade.

That said, the former Manchester United star has stressed the point that Jim Crawford’s side cannot get ahead of itself as it faces up to a crucial Tallaght double-header, against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro, in the coming days.

Both of those nations have taken points off more fancied sides in Group F of the Uefa 2023 qualifiers with the Montenegrins shocking Ireland in Podgorica last October when striking twice in the opening ten minutes and holding out for a 2-1 win.

Ireland have three of their ten games still to play. Win this next two and they are highly likely to climb above Sweden and all but earn second place in the table behind Italy and the play-off spot that comes with it.

Though they have also slipped up when drawing away to bottom-side Luxembourg, Ireland have created this opportunity for themselves by beating the Swedes home and away. Claim this six points and they likely won’t need to go to Italy on the last day needing a result.

It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many of the players but that brings with it an added pressure for young men who are still at the foothills of their careers. How they deal with that backdrop will go a long way to deciding their fate.

“Mentally we have kept it the same really,” said O’Shea, who is on board as an assistant coach. “The approach we’ve had when you look at the two Sweden games, positive results like that, why would you change much, you know?

“Obviously you're creating that ultimate goal that we set out at the start of the campaign. It’s within touching distance now. You have given yourself a chance of that, so go and grasp it, go and take it. We’ll deal with that first game first and won’t look too far ahead because you might trip yourself up.” 

The next two opponents have proven themselves highly problematic to all three of the sides chasing a place at next year’s finals in Romania and Georgia.

The Bosnians, whom Ireland beat 2-0 in Zenica, have drawn with Sweden and twice lost by just a single goal to Italy. Montenegro, apart from beating Ireland, have drawn with the Swedes, lost away to Italy by a single goal and drew with them on home soil.

“We know from ourselves how tough a game it was against Bosnia,” said O’Shea. “And obviously the game against Montenegro was a tough game. We felt we should’ve gotten something from it.

“When you have the initial experience, whether it be positive or negative against the team, you get a good feeling about them, their strengths, and weaknesses, where they are in the group, where we are and what we’re looking to do.

“You use that as a stepping stone at the start of the week to prepare everyone and make them realise that the teams they’re playing against, you’ve done well against, and you’ll get chances against them, making sure you’re looking out for yourself in terms of the defence.

“We’ve had a couple of great clean sheets against Sweden and that’s something to build on as well.” 

First up is Bosnia-Herzegovina at 7.30pm on Friday at Tallaght Stadium. Montenegro are due up next Monday at 6pm at the same venue.