Crawford confident 'enormous belief' can help U21s handle hits and Norway

ALL SMILES: Andrew Moran during a Republic of Ireland Under 21 training session at the FAI National Training Centre in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

The Republic of Ireland U21s appreciate the enormity of the task ahead of them. Still, Jim Crawford believes in the enormity of their ability to secure a first-ever European Championship qualification.

The major bump in the road arrived with the announcement that captain Joe Hodge and striker Mason Melia would miss out due to “pre-existing injuries” after being assessed by the Irish medics. Those added to the absences of Bosun Lawal, Zak Gilsenan, Sean Grehan, Conor Carty, and Adam Murphy. Crawford insists enough confidence and talent remain to get the job done.

If Ireland win both games against Norway and Italy, they will guarantee top-spot and qualification. Victory against Norway at Turner’s Cross on Friday evening would be enough to secure a minimum of a play-off berth.

In addition, the top three second-placed teams will qualify automatically, although Ireland currently find themselves outside the cut for that entry route.

“We’ve a good group,” says Crawford. “They’ve enormous belief in their own abilities and the team’s abilities.

“Mason Melia will be out, Joe Hodge will be out, but I’ve no qualms bringing in two players to do the job because we’ve good competition in the group and they all have that belief.” 

Such assurance has been forged in the cauldron of international football. Andy Moran, who will captain the side in Hodge’s absence, referred to a friendly against Ukraine last summer.

The Irish team were an age grade below their opponents but salvaged a two-all draw. The Ukrainians went on to make the semi-finals of the Euros. The message: There are no inferiority complexes here.

In all three games where they dropped points, Ireland had scored two goals and held the lead. They led until the 73rd minute against Norway before a cheap penalty triggered a quickfire brace. They led until the 96th minute against Italy before the last-gasp leveller. They did snatch the draw against Latvia but it was a game they utterly dominated.

For Crawford, the lesson is simple: “Concentration levels. The game isn’t 90 minutes anymore. It’s 95, 96 minutes.

“There are lessons in defusing a game, taking the sting out of it. All those things are important in order to win games.

“Against Latvia, it’s a case of you need to take your chances. They only created a couple of chances and they scored two goals against us.

“There are plenty of learning points but it’s getting the balance right. You’re not fixated on everything that’s gone wrong in previous games because there’s a hell of a lot gone right.” 

Ireland have scored their fair share of late goals too. They’ve been primarily at Turkey’s expense, transforming a potential loss and draw into two wins.

Norway enter two points behind Ireland after losing 3-0 to Italy in the last window. Their final game against the Turks will only matter if they take home a result from Cork.

“The players are looking forward to it. They understand the enormity of it. It’s what you want, to be involved in these games as opposed to dead rubbers,” Crawford adds.

“Preparation has been good and hopefully it can be a performance to remember.”