Celtic youngster Barry Coffey would be the hero as Republic of Ireland qualified for the semi-finals of the under-19 European Championships.
The Irish overcame Czech Republic 2-1 in their final group stage match. The three points meant that Coffey and co managed to progress from their four-team group. Ireland will now face Portugal in the semi-final of the competition on July 24th.
Coffey had been left out of the opening match against Norway, but came on against France in a 1-0 loss. And he managed to build on that beautifully against the Czechs yesterday.
With Ireland 1-0 ahead on 56 minutes, Coffey came on for Brandon Kavanagh. Czech Republic would get a shock equaliser with just 11 minutes remaining, but Coffey ensured that didn’t last long. With less than 10 minutes to go, the Celtic youngster controlled a pass before lashing it home to send his country to the semi-finals. You can view the goal above.
It was a huge moment for Coffey, especially considering he had previously been left out of the starting line-up for previous games. He has now seriously staked his claim for a place to face the Portuguese on Wednesday.
Celtic youngster Barry Coffey is making his mark
It’s a colossal boost of epic proportions for the Celtic youngster. Having not played much before his appearance against the Czechs, you could forgive him for thinking his tournament was going to end unceremoniously. But he stepped up and made sure that wasn’t the case.
Coffey has experience of training with the Celtic first-team. Neil Lennon has continued Brendan Rodgers’ push of the youth set-up at Parkhead, and Coffey has been one beneficiary of it.
So far, we’ve yet to see the young midfielder make his Celtic debut. Publicity like this, however, will only help his case to be given an opportunity at some stage this season.
Lennon will likely be watching Coffey closely between now and the end of the competition. He’s certainly got Celtic supporters sitting up and raising an eyebrow after his game-winning display against the Czechs yesterday.
Here’s hoping he gets rewarded with his first start of the tournament on Wednesday.
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