The game, which is live on Premier Sports and FreeSports at 11am (Irish time) in Ireland and the UK, is the first of three matches for the Boys in Green in Marbella, with Australia (Wednesday, June 2) and Denmark (Saturday, June 5) coming up in the next week.
Manager Jim Crawford had stressed the importance of a series of international games this summer to help build for the first of their 2023 UEFA Under-21 European Championship qualifiers in September.
Team News
Ciaran Brennan and John Joe Patrick Finn Benoa have been ruled out of the games. Brennan is currently recovering from illness while Finn Benoa was given leave to focus on his exams.
Bray Wanderers Brian Maher and UCD’s Colm Whelan are available for selection after meeting up with the camp after their respective League of Ireland matches on Friday.
Watford’s Bosun Lawal and Wolfsburg’s Anselmo Garcia-MacNulty are part of the camp for training purposes.
Quotes
Republic of Ireland Under-21 Manager Jim Crawford: "We've got three top class opponents. We have Switzerland then Australia's U23's team who are perparing for the Olympic Games then we play our final games against Denmark. So three different teams that will challenge our players and I'm really looking forward to it."
Under-21s midfielder Conor Coventry said: "I think the main thing to take from this camp is to gel together as a group and all getting on the same page with our style of play. There's a lot of talent in the group and we need to gel together and see how it goes. There international matches we want to win but maybe the most important things are the performances and coming together as a group."
Squad
Goalkeepers: Sam Blair (Norwich City), Brian Maher (Bray Wanderers), Dan Rose (Schalke 04)
Defenders: Festy Ebosele (Derby County), Shane Flynn (Leicester City), Andy Lyons (Bohemians), Oisin McEntee (Newcastle United), Mark McGuinness (Arsenal), Lewis Richards (Wolves), Sean Roughan (Lincoln City).
Midfielders: Luca Connell (Celtic), Conor Coventry (West Ham United), Dawson Devoy (Bohemians), Alex Gilbert (Brentford), Conor Grant (Rochdale), Ryan Johansson (Sevilla), Conor Noss (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Louie Watson (Derby County).
Forwards: Jonathan Afolabi (Celtic), Will Ferry (Southampton), Joshua ‘JJ’ Kayode (Rotherham United), Gavin Kilkenny (Bournemouth), Colm Whelan (UCD), Tyreik Wright (Aston Villa).
*Bosun Lawal (Watford) and Anselmo Garcia MacNulty (Wolfsburg) are part of the squad for training
Fixtures - International Friendlies (all times are Irish times)
- Switzerland v Republic of Ireland, May 30, KO 11:00, Dama de Noche Football Centre, Marbella, Spain (Live on Premier Sports 1/ FreeSports)
- Australia v Republic of Ireland, June 2, KO 12:00, Marbella Football Centre, Marbella, Spain. (Live on Premier Sports 1/ FreeSports)
- Republic of Ireland v Denmark, June 5, KO 17:00, Dama de Noche Football Centre, Marbella, Spain. (To be shown at 21.30pm on Premier Sports 1)
Match Details
- This will be the 8th meeting between Ireland and Switzerland at Under-21s level.
- The first meeting at this level was March 24, 1992. It ended itn a 1-1 draw at Tolka Park.
- The most recent meeting was in Lugano, Switzerland on September 3, 2010. It ended in a 0-1 defeat to Ireland.
Social Media
Game Hashtag: #SWIIRL
Team Hashtag: #IRLU21