Release Date: 15/03/2010

Author: By Chris Sherrard

SPANISH football is cutting a decidedly beautiful swagger these days.

The country's senior panel contains some of the sport's superstars and they are installed as many people's favourites to win the World Cup in South Africa this summer.

And now the next generation of Iberian wonderkids, to follow in the illustrious boots of Xavi, Torres, Fabregas, and Villa, are coming to Northern Ireland to take on the best young guns that we have. And our boys simply can’t wait.

Paul Kee’s Northern Ireland U17s will face the Spanish, as well as Belgium and Poland, in their Elite stage qualifiers for the European Championships (March 17-22). And, with home advantage and the opportunity to see first-hand some extraordinary youngsters, the Northern Ireland public are in for a treat. And so are our players.

Luke McCullough, Dungannon Swifts' outstanding centre-half, revealed: “I was happy when I heard the draw because these teams will be strong and it’s the top nations we want to play. We played both Belgium and Poland at U16 level and drew both games so we know we can compete against these teams.

“As for Spain, they will obviously be favourites going into the games but I’m looking forward to playing them the most – and I’m sure it’s the same for the other players.”

The Spain game is sure to be the glamour match of the stage but, if Northern Ireland are to claim a place in the Finals, they’ll have to concentrate on all three games, making the Poland and Belgium matches equally significant.

Only the top team in each group is guaranteed a place in the Finals along with the best runner-up of the seven groups qualifying (due to hosts Liechtenstein withdrawing their team from the competition). 

But the mood in Paul Kee’s panel is high and they approach the mini-tournament with a confident spring in their step. “We believe we can go into every game and win and we’ll be looking for a big result in all three games,” confirmed Portadown College student McCullough. “All the boys are buzzing and can’t wait for these games.

“I think the squad has made the step up from the U16s to U17 level very well and we feel we are getting stronger and stronger all the time as a group of players. I think we’re improving all the time at every age group and I would put that down to having a good structure from the bottom with the county excellence programmes and all the players have a great opportunity to develop. I think, over the past few years, the teams at underage level have been playing above themselves and getting results against bigger countries.”

And that's the exact challenge which McCullough and his international team-mates are now excitingly faced with.

2009/10 UEFA European Under-17 Championship Elite round – Group 4 - mini tournament:

Admission to each game in the mini tournament is £2 for adults and £1 concessions - members of the Irish FA's Official Supporters Schemes get in for free on production of their membership card.

So make sure you come along and cheer on the Northern Ireland boys as they bid to book their place in the European Finals in May.

« Go Back