Aviva to host North v South friendly clash in November
IRELAND will play friendlies against Poland and Northern Ireland later this year.
But Mirror Sport understands that a glamour summer clash with Brazil is not on the cards.
The FAI will this week confirm the opposition for a June friendly at Aviva Stadium (above).
The association are eager to land a big name bound for the World Cup finals.
And while Brazil were mooted as a possibility,
the joint-favourites for Russia 2018 won’t play here this year.
The Boys in Green are heading back to Poland, however.
Martin O’neill’s charges – who already face Turkey and France away in March and May – travel to Poland on September 11, but a venue is yet to be confirmed
That game comes five days after Ireland’s opening match in the new UEFA Nations League which is away to Wales on September 6.
Ireland will also host Michael O’neill’s Northern Ireland in a friendly at Aviva Stadium on November 15.
It will be the first meeting between the teams since May 2011, although they did play a behind-closed-doors game in Dublin in June
2015.
It falls two days shy of the 25th anniversary of the fiery 1-1 draw in Belfast that saw the Republic qualify for World Cup 94.
That game is on a UEFA Nations League date but neither country has a competitive game on that day.
O’neill will use the derby clash as preparation for their Nations League game against World Cup play-off foes Denmark in Copenhagen on November 19.
Northern Ireland host Austria in the new competition on November 18 and their manager Michael O’neill revealed today that it was ‘mandatory’ to arrange a friendly.
He said: “UEFA have made it mandatory that we play a friendly on that date and when we looked at the options across Europe, travelling to Dublin made a lot of sense.
“It means that we can stay on the island for the week, train in our usual environment and play a game that will be a good test for us ahead of the Austria match.”
And Northern Ireland boss O’neill added: “I’m looking forward to managing a team against Martin, a manager who I hugely respect and admire.”