EUROPEAN UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING GROUP STAGE/Rep Ireland 2 Italy 2:THE REPUBLIC of Ireland can secure second place in their group by beating Turkey at home in August after claiming a draw against the group leaders yesterday at the Showgrounds in Sligo.
Noel King’s side were lucky to be just one behind to Shane Duffy’s third-minute own goal at the break but Ciro Immobile extended the Italians’ lead 10 minutes after the break with a low drive.
Back came the Irish and after Robbie Brady’s converted penalty on 67 minutes, captain Greg Cunningham completed the comeback four minutes later with his first goal at this level.
With three qualifiers remaining, Ireland’s feat in taking the first point from the Azzurri in six ties puts them in a commanding position to secure a runners-up spot.
As the four best second-placed teams across the 10 groups proceed to a play-off for next year’s finals in Israel, King insists his team must close the deal in the matches against Turkey, Hungary and the return fixture in Italy.
“I think five points would be enough to get a play-off, starting with victory over Turkey at home in August,” he said. “We’ve got two games in hand over Turkey and they finish their campaign against us here in Sligo needing some points to stay in contention.
“The lads will take a lot of positives from this performance against the Italians into that game. We were 2-0 down against a team that was unbeaten, so you virtually think it’s gone. That’s what your head is saying, but the other half of you is saying ‘you can’t let it go’.
“We had to keep fighting . . . Your worry is that when you go to push the game, you might concede three or four but we had to go for it.”
Everton defender Duffy, who atoned for his own goal by earning the penalty, admitted he was relieved to get a draw.
“The lads got me out of hole today . . . because I was mentally weak in the first half and didn’t play well at all,” he said.
REP OF IRELAND: I. McLoughlin (MK Dons); J Egan (Sunderland), S Duffy (Everton), N Canavan (Scunthorpe United), G Cunningham (Manchester City, capt); J Hendrick (Derby County), R Towell (Unattached), E O’Kane (Torquay United); R Brady (Manchester United), R Murphy (Unattached), A White (Leeds United). Subs: A McCarey (Wolves) for McLoughlin (59 mins), J Collins (Shrewsbury Town) for Murphy (89 mins).
ITALY: F Bradi (Livorno); D Santon (Newcastle United), M Capuano (Pescara), L Caldirola (Brescia), A Crescenzi (Bari); A Florenzi (Crotone), M Verratti (Pescara), L Marrone (Juventus), L Insigne (Pescara); M Destro (Siena), C Immobile (Pescara). Subs: A Paloschi (Chievo) for Destro (73 mins), S El Shaarawy (AC Milan) for Immobile (85 mins) S Romagnoli (Pescara) for Paloschi (90 mins).
Referee: E Hancon (Israel).
