Soccer:The Football Association of Ireland have lined up a friendly with World Cup semi-finallists Uruguay for March of next year. The Uruguay match will take place on Saturday, March 26th, four days after Ireland meet Macedonia in the fifth qualifier of their European campaign.
While not as glamorous as the meeting with Argentina that marked the opening of the Aviva Stadium, which failed to sell out, with the likes of Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez due in Dublin the FAI will hope to attract a healthy attendance.
Giovanni Trapattoni’s side return to their new home early next month for the Euro 2012 qualifier with Russia and will face Norway in a friendly in November. And while his immediate focus is on the forthcoming double-header with Russia and Slovakia, Trapattoni is already looking forward to meeting the South Americans.
“After playing Brazil and Argentina this year, we now welcome another strong South American side,” he said today. “Having watched Uruguay in this summer’s World Cup, I was impressed by their performance, particularly against the Netherlands in the semi final when they were narrowly beaten.
“This game will act as further good preparation for the June qualifier, before our return leg against Macedonia.”