PROUD supporters from his home county call him ‘The man from the mountain’ and they have cheered Tom Mohan and his Republic of Ireland U19s to the pinnacle of European football.
Manager Mohan, from Aghadrumsee in Fermanagh, will lead his side out against a talented Portugal outfit in Yerevan, Armenia tonight in the semi-finals of the European Championships with a place in the decider against either Spain or France the prize for the winners.
The Republic beat the Czech Republic in their winner-takes-all final group game on Sunday evening to reach the last four - goals from Jonathan Afolabi and Celtic’s Barry Coffey sealed a 2-1 win which meant they clinched second place in their group.
“The boys have done really well, first of all to qualify for the finals and then to qualify from a very competitive group,” said Mohan.
“They were all close games and the Czech Republic game on Sunday was a knockout basically. Thankfully we came out of it on the right side and that sets us up for a really interesting game against Portugal.
“The Czech’s had to win the match as well – both teams had to go for it. Our boys responded really well when they equalised and within two minutes we went 2-1 up with a really good goal. We were well organised defensively after that and the boys saw the game out, so we look forward to Portugal now.”
Felipe Ramos’ Portugal side finished top of group A uneaten after beating Italy (3-0), drawing 1-1 with group runners-up Spain and finishing with a 4-0 victory against hosts Armenia.
“We know it’s going to be a really difficult challenge against a top Portugese side but we’re looking forward to it; we have good momentum built up and we have to continue that,” said Mohan.
“We’re 90 minutes away from a European final. Preparation has went really well and the boys are really determined. They are a good group of lads, they have a good attitude and they’ve worked really hard.”
The Republic youngsters exceeded some pundits’ expectations by qualifying for the eight-team finals tournament in the first place. They began it with a battling 1-1 draw against Norway (Jason Hodge got the goal) but missed chances meant they slipped to a 1-0 defeat against France in their second game.
Mohan’s youngsters bounced back against the Czech’s to make the knockout stage but goalscorer Afolabi and Manchester United’s Lee O’Connor, the team captain, both picked up yellow cards and will miss tonight’s semi-final.
“I think playing at this stage of the competition will inspire our players,” said Mohan.
“They’ll take great confidence from their performances in the group stages. Against Norway we went 1-0 down but we came back and finished the game very strong and got a draw.
“France are a very good side and we had to defend for long periods but we were very well organised and we did our jobs well. We had some very good chances to take the lead against France but unfortunately we conceded a late goal.
“The boys have bounced back very well. There’s great resilience within the group and they have played a lot of good football as well along the way. The unfortunate thing about the Czech Republic game was that two of our players picked up bookings and will miss the game against Portugal but that opens the door for other lads to come in and perform.”
The success of Mohan’s team has given Republic of Ireland fans hope for the future of the senior team. Former Aghadrumsee St Macartan’s player and Finn Harps midfielder Mohan says his players – taken from Premier League, Scottish Premier League, English Championship and League of Ireland clubs – have come through because of a “collective effort”.
“There are a lot of talented players in the squad,” said Mohan.
“Our underage teams have done really well in recent years, right from the U15s up. How well the boys have done in this tournament reflects well on the work that has been done at grassroots level right through the League of Ireland clubs and into the international set-up. It’s a collective effort.”
