‘It’s frightening how good we were’ – Andrew Moran says future is bright for Ireland despite heartbreaking Euro exit
Ireland U-21 captain Andrew Moran insists the future is bright for the next generation despite suffering a heartbreaking exit in their Euro 2025 qualifying campaign last night.
Jim Crawford’s men battled to an impressive 1-1 draw away to group winners Italy in Trieste, but it wasn’t enough as Norway’s victory over Turkey saw Ireland finish third in Group A as they missed out on a November play-off for Slovakia 2025.
Moran, on loan at Stoke City this season from Brighton, levelled in the second half to drag Ireland back into the contest, but a late winner never came as the team’s wait for a first ever U-21 European Championship appearance continues.
“I think you can see the quality that we’ve got, playing against a team like Italy, a few senior internationals. It’s frightening how good we were. It’s just gutting that we couldn’t get the win,” Moran told RTÉ after their campaign came to an end at the Stadio Nereo Rocco in north eastern Italy.
“It’s a tough one to take. We put it right up to them. We started the game unreal. They couldn’t get out. We had a few cleared off the line.
“We knew we were still in the game (at half-time). We got away with one with the penalty miss (Wilfried Gnonto on 36 minutes). They had a spell at the end of the first half and then second half, we came out firing.
