Ireland draw in Italy but bow out of U21 Euro contention
BRAVE EFFORT: Republic of Ireland players after the UEFA European U21 Championship qualifier in Italy. Photo by Igor Kupljenik/Sportsfile
Trieste is where Irelandâs U21 campaign ended but the scene of their downfall was Turnerâs Cross.
Another bout of heartbreak for a young Irish team and yet this cannot be attributed to hard luck.
Injury-time concessions against Italy and Norway in Cork left four points behind that that would ultimately have won Ireland the group outright. Also regrettable was dropping two to fourth seeds Latvia last month in Tallaght.
âWe should have done a lot better in the two games and theyâve cost us,â summarised James Abankwah, based at nearby Udinese. âStill, I think the future for Ireland is bright.â Those three blemishes combined compressed the margin of error to needing victory in the toughest of environments on the last day.
A second-half equaliser from captain Andy Moran cancelled out Cesare Casadeiâs 23rd minute opener but Ireland were unable to muster the elusive winner â relegating them into third spot and out of contention for next yearâs Euros finals.
Italy have been top seeds in Irelandâs group for five of the last seven campaigns â Germany in the other two â and not since current Cork City midfielder Sean Murray capped his debut with a sumptuous lob 12 years ago have Ireland tasted victory.
Their mission was straightforward following last Fridayâs controversial concession of a late equaliser against Norway.
Beat leaders Italy and a first-ever qualification was theirs or at least match the Norwegiansâ result to guarantee a playoff.
That was an unlikely scenario against fourth placed Turkey in a simultaneous fixture and so it proved as they strolled to a 5-1 triumph to capture second and their playoff berth.
Victory or bust was Irelandâs mission and that was reflected in their outlook of aiming to rattle the Azzurri.
The tactical ploy of pressing high onto kickouts by Sebastiano Desplanches worked a treat and, within the first 22 minutes, Ireland had two efforts cleared off the line.
Crosses into the box, both from play and deadballs, has the goalkeeper scrambling and Italyâs zonal system exposed but the regret for Ireland will be their failure to profit.
When Baba Adeeko won a 14th minute corner, Sean Roughanâs delivery was marginally missed by the onrushing Abankwah.
From the second corner two minutes later, Johnny Kennyâs header was weak but Desplanches spilled it into the path of Moran whose jack-knifed volley was blocked on the line by Nicolo Bertola.
Bertola was behind his stopper again on 22 minutes when Adeekoâs low drive from the goalkeeperâs flap whistled through a thicket of defenders.
Straight from the clearance, the Italians raced upfield. Wilfried Gnonto found space on the right to square the ball across and there to punish slack marking by sidefooting home was Cesare Casadei.
Fuelled by that opener, Italy upped the tempo. Their impish Roma winger Tommaso Baldanzi won a free off a Sam Curtis handball on the half hour that he flashed past the far post with a lethal angled strike.
His trickery then drew a foul from Anselmo Garcia-MacNulty inside the box but Gnonto was unable to repeat his trick from Turnerâs Cross by blazing the penalty over.
Fresh from that let-off, Jim Crawford made a double substitution at the break to ignite their attack and one of the newcomers, Aidomo Emakhu, produced the equaliser.
His power furrowed him down the right and from a low cross, Moran arrived on cue to stroke his left-footer past the custodian despite him getting a hand on the ball.
That created a grandstand finish but, despite Sinclair Amstrongâs forceful presence in attack, they were unable to penetrate a side renowned for their defensive nous.
Emakhuâs searching ball across the six-yard box in stoppage time accounted for their biggest threat but nobody anticipated it for a close-range tap-in.
Italian defender Daniele Ghilardi was the one closest to grabbing a winner. His drilled shot from 25 yards forced Tiernan Brooks to stoop low and turn the ball around the post.
When Irelandâs players watch next yearâs finals in Slovakia without them, theyâll know where to look for analysis of their latest near miss. Home discomforts will sting.
S Desplanches; N Savona, D Ghilardi, N Bertola, M Zanotti (R Turruchia 76); C Casadei, M Prati, C Ndour; T Baldanzi (G Bonfanti 90); W Gnonto (L Koleosho 76); P Esposito (G Fabbian 54).
T Brooks; S Curtis (C OâBrien 46), E Adegboyega, J Abankwah, A Garcia MacNulty, S Roughan (T Adaramola 46); M Healy, B Adeeko (M OâMahony 80), A Moran; S Armstrong, J Kenny (A Emakhu 59).
Adam LadebÀck (SWE).
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