Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
O’neill tells Republic to lay off our youngsters
Desi wants to Rock soccer world
HERE’S a future pub quiz question. Name the Irish managers who selected three sides during the same round of international matches?
Most would confidently scribble down the two O’neills, Martin and Michael but then puzzled looks might emerge.
Yet when Northern Ireland take on South Korea and the Republic line up against Turkey later this month, Co Down man Desi Curry will send his Gibraltar side out to face Latvia.
And while the men from the Baltic Sea aren’t everyone’s idea of a footballing powerhouse, for Gibraltar – population 34,000 – everyone is a big country.
But while some might see this as a daunting task, for Newtownards man Desi, who spent years as a technical director with the IFA, he only sees an opportunity to progress. He said: “This is football and anything is possible. We know nine times out of 10 Latvia will beat us. But we have to be ready to play our best game when they might have their worst.”
But Desi is no dreamer and he knows how smaller nations can punch way above their weight to land a place at football’s top table.
He added: “Let’s call it the small nation strategy. Look how Iceland [population 300,000] are going to the World Cup at the expense of the Netherlands.
“How did a small country like Northern Ireland go to Euro 2016 ahead of Hungary and Greece? How can they get to two World Cups in 1982 and 1986? It can’t all be about luck.
“We can’t compete with the talent pools of Spain, France or Italy but we can lay the foundations of success by developing a strategy for youth that continues to the senior squad.
“We want to bring scientific analysis and professionalism.”
And having already spent 14 months as technical director with the Gibraltar Football Association, his methods are beginning to bear fruit.
He said: “Last November we scored our first ever international victory when our U21s beat Macedonia 1-0. For a nation of our size this was a terrific achievement but we want to push on. “We want those U21s who have games coming up against Serbia and Russia to be banging at the door of the senior squad.” While Desi has been appointed on an interim basis, does he see himself in the hot seat in the long term?
He said: “It’s a cliche but I’m not looking any further than Latvia. The GFA are serious about their vision – they’re in the middle of a £30million stadium development and there is real optimism about the direction we’re heading. We’re quite progressive in our thinking.
Whatever happens with the manager’s job is a matter for others but there’s really great potential here. That clash of cultures, the blend of British doggedness and Spanish and Mediterranean flair can be a real potent mix on a football pitch.
“Whatever happens, we’ve got a chance to leave a legacy for success and that is the most important thing.” NORTHERN Ireland manager Michael O’neill has called on the FAI to “leave our kids alone’ as he clarified comments over eligibility of players.
He admitted the Football Association of Ireland “has broken no rules” over suggestions of poaching players.
But he called on them to allow those who have played for Northern Ireland at underage level to develop “without the responsibility of having to make a decision regarding his international allegiance that is binding”.
O’neill said: “Eligibility is not, and should not, be a political or religious issue.
ELIGIBILITY
“For me, eligibility is a football issue. The FAI correctly states it has broken no rules in approaching young Northern Ireland players.
“My concerns lie with players aged 17 to 21.
“I’ve seen a heavy price paid by too many talented young players – players who have transferred their allegiance to a country that ultimately doesn’t rate them, nor play them.”
In 2010 the Irish FA took an eligibility case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against FIFA and the FAI allowing Belfast-born Daniel Kearns to play for the Republic.
O’neill added: “The IFA invests thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of pounds in players in our Club NI programme.
“While it is a player’s right to choose the Republic at underage level, such a decision means that another young player has missed out on the opportunity to be part of our elite performance pathway and another player in the FAI system will miss out on selection.
“I have been asking my counterpart at the FAI for a meeting to discuss these issues. I am pleased he indicated he is now willing to take me up on that.”