Ireland relishing U17 finals debut

Dramatic conclusion
Elite round regulars in the last few seasons, Ireland finally took that extra step in an extraordinary mini-tournament last month, where on the decisive day they needed to beat Portugal by a two-goal margin and hope Germany defeated Greece by an equal or smaller scoreline. Identical 2-0 results ensured Ireland finished top on goal difference with all four teams on four points, and the reward is a ticket to Antalya from 4 May, where they meet former champions France and Switzerland before facing holders Spain in Group B.

Opportunities
"That was a difficult group with Germany, Portugal and Greece, to get through on four points was amazing," McCaffrey told uefa.com. "But we'll take that. We've missed out with more points than that on too many occasions. It's a great occasion, the facilities are fantastic and to play Spain and France, they are daunting games but they are also great opportunities for young players to impress - great opportunities for young players to gain good experience and build confidence with their performances. So we're looking forward to it."

Mental strength
The chance to play in Turkey seemed remote after Ireland's 2-1 defeat by Greece in their second Elite round fixture left the mixture of home-based players and talents with leading English clubs on the verge of elimination, but McCaffrey thinks there are now benefits from having got themselves into that situation. "It was a very useful experience because of what they showed against Portugal, knowing they had to beat them by two goals and knowing Germany had to beat Greece by two or less. We were mentally strong enough and composed enough and that builds belief for the future."

Chances
In his fifth season in charge of Ireland's youth teams, McCaffrey says his players are too young to remember when the likes of Robbie Keane helped Brian Kerr's U16 and U18 squads to a double victory not matched until last year by Spain's U17 and U19 campaigns. But he is not ruling out emulating those feats. "The Football Association of Ireland have backed me for the last four seasons," McCaffrey said. "We've been close so many times, under the old rules with 16 teams we'd have qualified every time, but with eight teams it is very difficult to qualify. We have to look for more than getting there, we have to do well there. With two teams going through to the semi-finals there are opportunities to go a bit further."