Ireland U21s suffer defeat in Croatia
Fabijan Krivak scored the game's only goal early in the second half.
Sean Grehan captained the side while Warren Davis and Cian Dillon came off their bench to make their debuts.
Jim Crawford's team next face Qatar U23s in a friendly at the same venue on 10 June.
Advertisement
The matches represent the squad's final preparation before the start of the European Championship qualifiers in September.
More to follow

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Irish Examiner
Chelsea close to €40m deal for Ajax's Jorrel Hato as Nottingham Forest keen on Adama Traoré
Chelsea are closing in on the signing of Jorrel Hato from Ajax and have opened talks with RB Leipzig over a move for his Netherlands teammate, Xavi Simons. It is understood that personal terms have been agreed with Hato, a defender who has made more than 100 appearances for Ajax's first team despite only turning 19 in March. Negotiations with the Dutch side over a fee of around €40m (£35m) are believed to be in the final stages, with Enzo Maresca hoping to add to his options at left-back and in central defence. Hato, who in 2023 became the youngest player to captain Ajax aged 17 and made his senior international debut a few weeks later, is capable of filling both roles and is regarded as one of Europe's brightest prospects. He was part of the Netherlands Under-21 side that were defeated in the semi-finals of the European Championship in Slovakia last month and has won six senior caps. Chelsea, who have already signed Liam Delap, João Pedro and Jamie Gittens this summer, are also understood to be confident of agreeing a deal for Simons. The 22-year-old forward, who is capable of playing in several attacking roles, joined Leipzig from Paris Saint-Germain in January for €50m after two successful loan spells and it is expected that he could cost up to €70m. Simons has also attracted interest from Bayern Munich but is thought to prefer a move to the Premier League. Chelsea have already sanctioned the departures of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Noni Madueke and Djordje Petrovic and have agreed a £44m deal with Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr for João Felix. Elsewhere Nottingham Forest are interested in signing the Fulham winger Adama Traoré. If a deal can be done for the 29-year-old it would see him reunite with Nuno Espírito Santo, who he worked under at Wolves. After selling Anthony Elanga and Ramón Sosa, Forest have been eager to recruit new wingers. A club-record deal was agreed for Bologna's Dan Ndoye on Monday, with the Switzerland international set to join this week after a medical is completed. Personal terms are not thought to be an issue for Ndoye, who turned down the chance of moving to Serie A champions Napoli in favour of the Premier League. Traoré has spent the past two seasons at Craven Cottage after joining on a free transfer from Wolves, where he worked under Nuno for three years, helping them finish seventh twice. The Portuguese is a huge admirer of Traoré and is pushing for a deal to be completed. Traoré played 36 times for Fulham last season, scoring twice and creating a further seven goals to help Marco Silva's men finish 11th The potential arrival of Traoréconsidered one of the quickest players in the Premier League, would help negate the loss of Elanga, who joined Newcastle for £55m earlier in the window. Going into their first European campaign in 30 years, Forest are also considering increasing their bid for James McAtee after seeing an opening offer of £20m plus £5m in add-ons rejected by Manchester City for the England Under-21 midfielder. Leicester City, meanwhile, have signed the goalkeeper Asmir Begovic on a one-year contract. The 38-year-old was a free agent after leaving Everton at the end of last season and last played in the Championship for Queens Park Rangers in 2023-24. Begovic, who played for Bournemouth, Chelsea and Stoke in the Premier League, reunites with head coach Marti Cifuentes, who worked with him at QPR. Begovic is Leicester's first summer signing with the club hamstrung by financial parameters. Their No 1 goalkeeper, Mads Hermansen, has top-flight interest. Guardian


The Irish Sun
a day ago
- The Irish Sun
Mick Kearin dead – Tributes flood in for ex-Shamrock Rovers & Bohemians ace who made Republic of Ireland history
IRISH football legend Michael 'Mick' Kearin has passed away peacefully aged 82 in Lourdesville nursing home in Kildare Town. Kearin was a League of Ireland legend having started his career with St Patrick's Athletic's youth team before playing for 2 The 82-year-old passed away peacefully on Sunday Credit: 2 Kearin player over 200 games between the League of Ireland and FAI Cup Credit: @BFCdublin Kearin won three FAI Cups in-a-row with While playing for Rovers, the three-time capped amateur international earned his first Ireland senior cap in 1971. He started in the Republic of Ireland's 6-0 loss to Austria in a European Championship qualifier in Linz. Kearin started in an entirely Ireland based starting 11 before being replaced after 52 minutes by his club teammate Damien Richardson. Read more on League of Ireland The cap meant the Kildare Town native became the first Kildare man to receive an Ireland cap. While playing for the Milltown based side, Kearin made eight appearances in Europe and scored two goals. Most notably the three-time FAI Cup winner was a part of the side who famously drew 1-1 with Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Cup Winner's Cup second round clash. The second leg saw the Hoops level at 2-2 late on thanks to goals from Liam Tuohy and Bobby Gilbert but a late Gerd Müller strike knocked out the Irish side. Most read in Football Bayern Munich went on to win the competition, beating Glasgow Rangers in the final. Kearin also featured in a six-week summer exhibition to promote professional football in the US with Boston Rovers. Ireland legend joins Jacqui Hurley in making quirky prediction for Women's Euros semi from RTE couch During the exhibition he faced the likes of Sunderland, Wolves, Hearts and Stoke City as well as South American teams. Tributes have poured in for the father of four sons. His former clubs led the way paying homage to the LOI legend. Bohemians released a tribute saying: "All at Bohemians are saddened to hear of the passing of former player Mick Kearin. "After joining from St. Patrick's Athletic where he had played as a youth he became one of a number of exciting, attacking young players who made their name under the guidance of manager Seán Thomas. "Despite being a full amateur side Bohs enjoyed back to back third-place finishes in the 1964-65 and 1965-66 seasons with Mick often featuring among the goals from midfield. "There was a return to Dalymount for Mick in the 1973-74 season before he finished his career with Athlone Town." The club were he won his three FAI Cups and earned his senior Ireland cap Shamrock Rovers also honoured: "We are very saddened at the death of former Rovers player Mick Kearin. Mick joined Rovers in 1966 from Bohemians. "An Ireland Amateur international when he joined us, Mick played as a wing half and was on the team that won the FAI Cup in 1967, 1968, and 1969." Funeral arrangements can be found Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.


The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Broken bones, bloodied noses and never-say-die spirit… and this lot win trophies too – Lionesses are pride of England
STUART PEARCE was lauded for trying to 'run off' a broken leg for ten minutes while playing for West Ham against Watford in 1999. After England's Lionesses successfully defended their Euros crown, Lucy Bronze revealed she had Advertisement 6 Lucy Bronze played throughout the Euros with a fractured shinbone Credit: AFP It's not scientifically true that women have higher pain thresholds than men. But the full-back — whose full name is genuinely Lucy Roberta Tough Bronze — clearly isn't bound by such trivialities as medical science. Keeper Hannah Hampton - who was told she could never be a professional footballer due to an eye condition - is another Lioness who laughs in the face of the doctoring profession. Hampton suffered a nosebleed and played with a tampon up one nostril during the quarter-final victory over Sweden — drawing comparison with Advertisement READ MORE ON LIONESSES England played 360 minutes of knockout football at these Euros and led for less than five of them — roaring back from behind in all three fixtures. So while Joey Barton and a dwindling number of Sid The Sexists on social media continue to howl the word 'woke' at the moon, it's hilarious the Lionesses have triumphed thanks to the attributes traditionally regarded as the strengths of the English men's game. Physical bravery, stoicism, never-say-die spirit. Three comebacks, two penalty shootouts, broken bones and blooded noses. Advertisement Most read in Football Latest England are queens of Europe England legend Lucy Bronze reveals she played Player ratings - see how England's finest in Chloe Kelly steals the show after Eagle-eyed fans stunned at where Joyous CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS And this lot actually win trophies, too. Unlike in the last Euros on home soil in 2022, England weren't the best team in the tournament — that was runners-up Spain. England's Lionesses depart Zurich following their Euro 2025 victory There was some pleasing sour grapery among the beaten finalists about English 'luckiness'. Advertisement But when you keep on doing something over and over again, it can never be down to luck. England prevailed because they were mentally and physically tougher than any other side. They became the first English senior team to win a major tournament on foreign soil and they drew the highest TV audience of the year. Women's football is now an integral part of the national sporting landscape and that is a tribute to everyone who has helped to promote it during the move into professionalism over the past couple of decades. Advertisement There have been elements of positive discrimination in this. For a while, the game was over- exposed by the FA and much of the media, in comparison to the numbers of those who paid to watch it. But anyone uncomfortable with this needs to remember that women's football was banned in this country for half a century until 1971. 6 England celebrate consecutive European Championship wins Credit: Reuters Advertisement 6 Hannah Hampton was told she could never be a professional footballer due to an eye condition Credit: EPA Which sounds as weird as the fact beer was banned in Iceland — the nation, not the freezer shop — until 1989. But it legitimises all of the efforts to grow the women's game, which is now increasingly able to stand on its own feet. European club champions Arsenal have attracted sell-out crowds of 60,000 for matches at the Emirates. Advertisement And, from this coming season, they will hold all of their Women's Super League fixtures at the club's stadium, which will boost their average gate of 29,000. Watching a women's match live is a family-friendly experience, with the anger and hatred of the men's game largely absent. The game is different, the atmosphere is different, comparisons are tiresome and needless. Nobody feels the need to distinguish between men's and women's events when tallying up the gold medals won at an Olympics. Advertisement Keely Hodgkinson didn't have to suffer any sniping that she wouldn't have qualified for the men's 800m final when she won gold in Paris last summer, because women's athletics has been established over decades. Women's football is reaching a similar status. 6 Sarina Wiegman made it consecutive Euros wins Credit: AP And manager Advertisement After a promising start, Neville quit in 2021 after a run of seven defeats in 11 matches. The women's game will never be patronised in such a way in future. As part of this process, BBC TV pundits have sounded less like cheerleaders than in previous women's tournaments. And there wasn't much media soft-soaping of the Lionesses when they opened their Euros campaign with a deserved defeat by France. Advertisement This is as it should be. We are talking about elite international competition, not a school sports day. Chloe Kelly — the scorer of England's final winner against Germany three years ago, as well as the clinching penalty in Sunday's shoot-out in Basel — 6 Chloe Kelly scored the winning penalty Credit: EPA 6 Kelly was criticised by Spanish media for the cockiness of her celebrations Credit: Getty Advertisement But there is nothing nicey-nicey about her on the pitch. Criticised by Spanish media She marked England's latest success by sniping at critics on social media. And all of her team-mates will have similar stories. Advertisement Some of them started out at a time when the idea of girls playing football was seen as unusual. Such ideas are fading into distant history. Kelly, Hampton, Bronze and Co are rarely referred to as 'trailblazers' and 'pioneers' any more, because the trailblazing and pioneering has been done. Now they are simply regarded as habitual winners and champions. Advertisement NEW DRAMA THIS sort of thing isn't supposed to happen to Newcastle United anymore. The club's Saudi takeover should have ended the days of a star like Alexander Isak demanding a move. Should we be pleased Profit and Sustainability Rules have hampered the Geordie Arabia revolution? That depends if you're more bothered about the competitiveness of a title race or the widespread human-rights abuses of those bankrolling the club. Advertisement STICKY WICKET ENGLAND'S bowlers managed just two wickets in the last 142 overs of the drawn Fourth Test against India. The series has been compelling at times but the combination of flat batting tracks and a schedule with little breathing space, means both teams will be dead on their feet heading into Thursday's decider at The Oval. As in every other sport, there is little thought for player welfare when there are TV schedules to be packed. SPURRED OFF TOTTENHAM'S Europa League success, and subsequent Champions League qualification, was supposed to make them a des res for players in this summer's transfer market. Advertisement Yet their failure to land two leading targets, Morgan Gibbs-White and Bryan Mbeumo, shows there are no longer any easy pickings when attempting to raid Premier League rivals. Especially when you finished last season in 17th place. AUSSIE WHINES SO SWEET AUSTRALIAN rugby union may be down at heel, with the British & Irish Lions' tour Down Under far lower in profile than most such trips. And yet the series win by boss Andy Farrell and his crew, secured by a mighty comeback in Melbourne, remained a reason to be cheerful. Advertisement Because there is nothing so magical in sport than the sound of whingeing, defeated Aussies. SMALL WONDER I SPENT my Friday night in Ballybofey, Co Donegal which, with a population of around 5,000, is reckoned to be the smallest town in Britain and Ireland to host league football. Ballybofey's Finn Harps drew 2-2 with Roy Keane's ex-club, Cobh Ramblers, in an entertaining and refreshingly honest match. Also, you could pop to the local at half-time for a pint of the black stuff without anyone checking your ticket on the way back in. Advertisement