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Had Ireland won they, rather than the Italy, would have topped the group and qualified for EURO 2025
Had Ireland won they, rather than the Azzurri, would have topped the group.
It followed a 1-1 draw at home to Norway on Friday, when the visitors scored late on. When they followed that up with a win over Türkiye, it saw them leapfrog Ireland into second on goal difference.
Ireland’s 19 points was more than any other side which failed to reach at least the play-offs but Crawford admitted that Trieste was not where their qualification bid fell short.
He said: “After the game, it was difficult, considering the performance the boys put in and how close we were to automatic qualification.
“I didn’t find out the Norway-Türkiye result until afterwards, and that was another tough one to take.
“For any team, at any age group, to go to Italy and put in the performance we did, where an Italian team at home is hanging on.
“With the players they have, players in Serie A and players who’ve played the Premier League, they’re a really quality team and we had them on the back foot. They struggled to deal with us.
“Only getting the point there isn’t the reason we didn’t qualify, it’s games against Latvia, it’s not holding out against Italy at Turner’s Cross and it’s a decision going against us against Norway where they ultimately score – they’re tough to take.
“Looking back at those games, would you change anything? No. We had over 30 chances against Latvia, we were the better team against Norway and again against Italy.
“People will see this as a set-back, but with all forms of adversity, there are learnings.”
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A whole host of players are no longer eligible at that age group and Crawford said: “There’s a lot of players who didn’t make this squad, and had a lot of difficult decisions to make.
“But that’s not to say that they weren’t a part of it. You look at Ollie O’Neill who played a big part in getting us to where we are, and the likes of Joe Hodge – our captain – and many others.
“They’re superb professionals and what I would say to them, try and get as much first-team football as you can to reach your ceiling.
“It goes to training right, eating right, listening to coaches, and luck too, and if all that falls into place you have a great chance going forward.
“If you look at Andrew Moran, he came in at the start of the last campaign, he played a few games then didn’t feature until he played against Iceland and had a massively influential role this campaign.
“He’s an amazing example for younger players who have had to wait their chance and who can have a greater influence with us in the future.
“He’s our vice-captain and every time he’s been asked to lead, he’s been a fantastic example.
“He’s earned a senior cap and I back to him go and earn even more. Sinclair is another for the players to aspire to too. He’s earned his senior cap, he’s playing regularly in the Championship.
“Sinclair was brought into the Under-21s for a camp in the last campaign too and didn’t feature, yet you’ve only to see the impact he’s made for us this year.”
And that makes him enthusiastic about what is to come given many other are still eligible for the next campaign.
He said: “We’re a lot better set than at this point in the last campaign. We brought in 15 players, since our first game together against Iceland, who can play in the next campaign and of those, nine have already been capped, which is remarkable.
“The likes of James Abankwah, Sam Curtis, Rocco Vata and Mark O’Mahony have got a lot of competitive minutes already, before we go into the next campaign.
“But, it’s not just about getting a cap, it’s learning from the likes of Bosun Lawal, Sinclair, Andrew and Joe who were all on the fringes of the senior team during this campaign and looking at how they act in training and around the team hotel because they’re fantastic professionals.
“A high bar has been set by this group in terms of professionalism and that’s the standard we expect at this level.”
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Publish date : 2024-10-16 08:54:00
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