Young Meath players in Irish squad for Turkey and Latvia games
Ireland u-21s head coach Jim Crawford has named a 24-man squad for the upcoming UEFA European Championship qualifiers against Turkey and Latvia.
Included in the squad are three players with Meath connections - Killian Cahill, Josh Keeley and Sam Curtis.
They all will be looking to gain further international experience and continue their education as footballers.
Killian Cahill from Skryne is the son of Sean Cahill who represented Ireland at the 1996 Olympic Games as a hurdler as well as European and World Championships while his mother is Terri Horgan who was an accomplished long jumper.
Sean Cahill also coached one of Ireland's most successful athlete of recent times - hurdler and no turned TV pundit Derval O'Rourke and worked with the Meath and Skryne footballers at various times on improving their fitness.
Killian played for Skryne/Tara before moving on to the Shamrock Rovers Academy. He was transferred to Brighton & Hove Albion in 2022. He is one of three goalkeepers included in the Irish squad along with Josh Keeley from Dunboyne and Tiernan Brooks.
Keeley turned out for St Kevin's Boys, Shelbourne and Belvedere in his early years before joining St Patrick's Athletic aged 15, where he won league titles at u-15, u-17 and u-19 levels in their youth set-up.
He went on to make his senior debut for the Saints in an FAI Cup tie against Bray Wanderers in 2021 before he was signed by Tottenham Hotspur. Last season Keeley spent a time on loan with Barnet, adding to his bank of experience.
Sam Curtis from Navan was signed last seasons also by Sheffield Utd and he played for the Blades in the Premier League against Everton at Goodison Park.
He has since moved to Peterborough Utd on a loan deal and is playing regularly with The Posh who are managed by Alex Ferguson's son, Darren.
Curtis already has represented his country at several levels and even captained the Republic of Ireland team at u-15 level when he was just 13 - and indication of his early maturity.
He has won numerous awards including the Republic of Ireland u-18 Player of the Year accolade in 2022.
There are first time call-ups also for Crystal Palace and former Cork City forward Franco Umeh as well as Dundee United and former Drogheda United defender Emmanuel Adegboyega.
There’s a return to the squad for Killian Phillips fresh from his loan move to Scottish Premiership side St. Mirren and James Furlong who is on-loan at Wimbledon but Bosun Lawal and Tony Springett, who featured in the last camp, miss out.
Ireland will base themselves in Dublin before flying out to Istanbul for the qualifier against Türkiye on Friday, September 6 (Live on RTÉ, kick-off 5.45pm Irish time). The young Boys in Green return to Ireland before facing Latvia in Tallaght Stadium on Tuesday, 10th September – kick-off 5pm.
Tickets for the game are on sale now priced €10 for adults, €5 for under-16s with a family ticket €20 (two adults, two children) available here
Jim Crawford has also reinforced his backroom team with Stephen Rice joining the u-21s coaching staff as assistant coach having worked with the men’s senior team as chief scout and opposition analyst for the last three years.
Rene Gilmartin, who is the head of goalkeeping at Ipswich Town and served as goalkeeping coach with the senior team in the last two international windows, returns to the u-21s in the same role, having been involved in the position since 2019.
Ireland Under-21s squad
Goalkeepers: Tiernan Brooks (Gateshead), Killian Cahill (Brighton & Hove Albion), Josh Keeley (Tottenham Hotspur)
Defenders: James Abankwah (Udinese), Emmanuel Adegboyega (Dundee United, on loan from Norwich City), Sam Curtis (Peterborough United, on loan from Sheffield United), James Furlong (Wimbledon, on loan from Hull City), Anselmo Garcia-MacNulty (PEC Zwolle), Alex Murphy (Newcastle United), Connor O’Riordan (Cambridge United, on loan from Blackburn Rovers), Sean Roughan (Lincoln City)
Midfielders: Baba Adeeko (Wigan Athletic), Matt Healy (Royal Francs Borains), Joe Hodge (Huddersfield Town, on loan from Wolves), Andrew Moran (Stoke City, on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion), Killian Phillips (St. Mirren, on loan from Crystal Palace), Rocco Vata (Watford)
Forwards: Sinclair Armstrong (Bristol City), Aidomo Emakhu (Millwall), Johnny Kenny (Shamrock Rovers, on loan from Celtic), Mark O’Mahony (Portsmouth, on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion), Ollie O’Neill (Leyton Orient), Armstrong Oko-Flex (FC Zürich), Franco Umeh (Crystal Palace)
UEFA European u-21 Championship qualifier (kick-off time is Irish time)
Friday, September 6 | Türkiye U21 v Ireland U21, Esenir Stadium, Istanbul, Kick-Off 5.45pm
Tuesday, September 10 | Ireland U21 v Latvia U21, Tallaght Stadium, Dublin, Kick-Off 5pm