Ireland beaten by Czechs - October 16, 2000 Czech Republic 1 Ireland 0 Ireland have a mountain to climb if they are to qualify from their four-team mini-tournament after hosts Czech Republic beat Brian Kerr's u18 team 1-0. The result itself is no shame, as the Czechs are one of the better underage teams in the world - but Ireland really needed a positive result from this game if they were to have a realistic chance of qualifying from the European Championship qualifying mini-tournament. Ireland had their chances to take the lead but failed to exploit them and when Czech substitute Bystron met a cross in the 78th minute and volleyed home with his first touch of game, the Irish knew the jig was up. The best Irish chances fell to Blackburn's Robert Doyle and Celtic's David Van Zanten. Doyle burst between the Czech central-defensive pairing and won the chase to the ball ahead of the Czech goalkeeper, but his forward header had a little too much pace and he couldn't retrieve it before it reached the end line. Van Zanten's was a clearer chance. He picked up the ball on the edge of the box and curled a shot past Czech goalkeeper Cech - but the ball struck the upright and bounced away to safety. Manager Brian Kerr was a little disappointed after the game. He said: "In the first half we did well and in the second we were never really under any great pressure - but we didn't make enough chances.
Czech Republic: Cech, Simecek, Besta, Koubsky, Coupek, Lastovka, Hudec, Kalivoda, Trojan, Vyskocil, Jun.
Ireland: Barry Roche (Nottingham Forest) |