SOCCER: JOE SHAUGHNESSY has come a long way since lining out for Oughterard at the gateway to Connemara and tonight in Romania the defender is backing the Republic of Ireland's bid to edge out tournament favourites Spain for a place in Monday's Under-19 European Championship final.
Now firmly established as a first-team member under Craig Brown and Archie Knox at Aberdeen, the Galwayman recognises that taking the scalp of the Spanish will see his blossoming career hit new heights.
Having emerged from what manager Paul Doolin agreed was the easier of the two groups at the eight-nation event, his side now face the ultimate test in Chiajna.
Spain’s team glitters with talent, mostly drawn from Real Madrid, with skipper Pablo Sarabia and top scorer Álvaro Morata amongst those spoken of here in Bucharest as likely heirs to the current golden crop populating the Spanish senior team.
That said, Shaughnessy is not one to indulge reputations. A similar proposition confronted this Ireland team at the elite qualifying stage when a fancied Italy side needed just a draw to claim a place in the finals.
“We took the game to Italy and beat them 3-0,” recalls the defender, born in Reading before moving back to his father’s native rural Co Galway town.
“I’ve heard things about Spain’s players but we’ve a good group and that’s all that matters to me.
“We’ve seen team lists and the standard of clubs they’re at, yet a lot of our lads are at Premier League clubs in England.”
Though Real Sociedad midfielder Rubén Pardo was less than complimentary yesterday in describing Ireland as “a very physical team” and predicting that “in the end, spaces and players will come and we will not miss the goal”, it hasn’t been all so presumptuous from the Iberians’ camp.
Spanish coach Ginés Meléndez is far too wily a character to be taking anything for granted. He has led Spanish teams to three Under-19 titles in the past ten years but respects Doolin’s side.
He said: “It will be a hard game. They are a team that applies a lot of pressure and who can change their style of play. It will be an evenly-fought contest. We have a lot of desire and eagerness to get through to the final but it will be the same for them after they got to this stage.”
For his part, Doolin certainly knows where this tie can be lost.
“We’ve got to be very careful that we don’t think ‘ah, we’ll take these on’ said the former Cork City and Drogheda United manager.
“It is a 90-minute game and you have to make sure they are right. I’d say if the game is open, there is no better team – whether it is Spain, Barcelona or Real Madrid, they are very good on the counter.
“That is the thing we have to get right and it is something that we have spoken to the players about.
“When Serbia had the ball (in the 0-4 group defeat), they were taking it out of the back of the net – at least they did four times. And another two or three times the goalkeeper saved them. It could have been six at half-time.”
“Just like the other night against Romania, we have to be organised against the Spanish. When we played Czech Republic on Saturday there was a little spell in the second half when we weren’t really defensively good.”
He added: “We are under no illusion – it will be a very tough game. This is a one-off game. The tournament is different now. It’s a different competition, it’s a knock-out competition and knock-out football is different.”
With regular right back Matt Doherty unavailable after picking up bookings in two of the group matches, Wrexham’s Declan Walker is expected to deputise in defence. Otherwise, it’s set to be as they were from Saturday, except up front where Connor Smith is in contention to replace Conor Murphy.
IRELAND: (probable): McCarey (Wolves); Walker (Wrexham), Egan (Sunderland), O'Connor (Blackburn), Shaughnessy (Aberdeen); Murray (Watford), Carruthers (Aston Villa), O'Sullivan (Blackburn), Hendrick (Derby), Forde (Wolves); Smith (Watford).
