Ireland will take on Albania tomorrow (Tuesday, January 21) at 9am (Irish time) as they look to end the tournament on a high note after victories against Tanzania and Kosovo and an impressive performance in the defeat to Turkey.
The Boys in Green came within one minute of a place in the final but Turkey scored in the sixth minute of added time to equalise against Tanzania taking the hosts through to the final.
On the group stages Osam said
“We could well have been in the final. Tanzania needed to beat Turkey by less than 3-1 and we would have been there but the referee added six minutes of injury time and Turkey got their goal in that period to make it 2-2.
“I think that just shows the strength of the group we were in and Tanzania have really impressed people. Not much was known about them so it was down to us to figure out their style and play our game to get the win – it was a key part of our development.
“Turkey were a good side, and we knew that going into the tournament, but we could have got something from the game. We were unlucky to lose and I’m pleased with how we played. In the game against Kosovo it could have been six or seven goals to us because we played very well - it was a dominate performance from us.”
On facing Albania in the playoffs
“Albania play a 3-5-2 formation which is a great test for our players. A lot of teams in Europe will play with a single centre forward, so now our centre backs will have to prepare for dealing with two. This is all part of their education of the game and you hope when they go on to Colin O’Brien’s Under-17s they take the knowledge of playing against different systems with them. Albania are a good side but we’ll be looking to cap off the tournament with a win.”
Reflections on the tournament
“Overall it has been a good tournament. We recognised what lessons needed to be learned following the disappointment of the Victory Shield.
“As a team we haven’t done much different to that tournament in terms of preparation, but we put more focus on tightening up defensively as we were conceding in the Victory Shield in the transition from attack to defence.
“The players’ reaction has been excellent, they’ve recognised how you can be punished by the top sides in those situations and they’ve gone out in the games and put that right.”
Fixtures
January 21: 3rd/4th place play-off, Ireland v Albania, Altinordu Gündüz Teki̇n Onay Sahasi, Turkey, KO 9am (Irish time)
Aegean Cup results
January 15: Ireland 1-0 Tanzania
January 17: Turkey 1-0 Ireland
January 19: Ireland 4-0 Kosovo