IRELAND’S U17S KICKED off the first of three European Championship qualifiers at Turner’s Cross with a convincing 5-0 win over Andorra last night.
With the impact of Brexit meaning young players can no longer leave Ireland to join British clubs until the age of 18, all but three of those involved were home-based.
The exceptions were Inter Milan’s recent signing Kevin Zefi, Rocco Vata of Celtic (son of former Celtic and Albania defender Rudi) and Villarreal forward Caden McLoughlin.
Zefi and Vata both got their names on the scoresheet, along with Mark O’Mahony (Cork City) and Sam Curtis (St Patrick’s Athletic).
However, the pick of the bunch was the opening goal from Justin Ferizaj. The Shamrock Rovers midfielder took possession in his own half, before dribbling past a couple of challenges and drilling the ball into the bottom corner.
Ireland were also captained on the night by Cork City defender Cathal Heffernan, son of Irish Olympians Rob and Marian.
A dream start for the Boys in Green, who will face stiffer tests at the same ground against North Macedonia this Sunday (7pm) and Poland on Wednesday (1pm).
Watch all the goals below:
🇮🇪🇦🇩 | All the goals from Ireland MU17s’ 5-0 win over Andorra
— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) October 8, 2021
Justin Ferizaj’s opening goal though 👀
They’re back in action against 🇲🇰 on Sunday
🎟 Ticket info 👉 https://t.co/uqrPH1sDb1#IRLU17 | #COYBIG | #WeAreOne pic.twitter.com/HZrUc62dNE
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