US set to visit Dublin as FAI confirm schedule

THE FAI have confirmed Ireland’s summer schedule for this year with the announcement that the USA will visit the Aviva Stadium for a friendly on Saturday, June 2.

They say it will be the final match before the kick-off of the UEFA Nations League in September which means that Martin O’Neill’s end-of-season gathering will consist of an away date with France on Monday, May 28 and then the American encounter.

It’s believed the FAI did have options to travel to America for games with other nations but they didn’t fit into their plans.

The US also missed out on the World Cup. They last visited Dublin in 2014 where they came out on the wrong end of a 4-1 defeat at the Ballsbridge venue.

It means that Ireland will play a total of nine games in this calendar year. The schedule kicks off with a trip to Turkey in March that is preceded by a training camp in Antalya.

Once summer is out of the way, Ireland prepare to travel in September with an away date in Cardiff to kick off the UEFA Nations League, followed by an away friendly in Poland.

Wales and Denmark come to Dublin in October and Northern Ireland arrive for a November friendly ahead of the concluding Nations League trip to Copenhagen.

Meanwhile, young Rangers striker Matthew Shiels was named in both the Ireland and Scotland U-19 squads yesterday.

Shiels (17) is Glasgow born but Irish qualified and was drafted in by the FAI before Christmas.

His social media response last night indicated he was a bit surprised by the Scottish move, and there is confidence on the Irish side that he will stick with them.