Kerr's boys have their work cut out for them

Footballing omens may be conspiring against Brian Kerr's under-16s in Israel this week, but the team he puts out against favourites Portugal in Be'er Sheva this morning (kick-off 9.0) won't want for its usual merits of organisation, desire and spirit.

It's been an emotional roller coaster these last few weeks for Kerr, with his under-18s failing to qualify for Germany and injuries to this squad depriving it of two of its best players, Michael Foley and Jonathan Daly.

That, coupled with being placed in what appears the toughest group, alongside Portugal, Russia and England, points to Irish ambitions here in the Holy Land tilting more towards hope than expectation.

Team captain and central defender Patrick McCarthy, nonetheless, is in ebullient form for this crucial opening match mood.

"We qualified from a very strong group (Sweden, Switzerland and Wales) without conceding a goal," said McCarthy, "and the spirit in this squad is excellent. Brian and Noel see to that."

Portugal cruised through as hosts of their qualifiers, beating Scotland (who beat Ireland 2-0 in Dublin in a friendly in February) and Austria 3-0 each. But McCarthy believes that if Ireland play well they can cause an early upset and lay the foundation for a passage through to the quarter-finals.

"It's a big game, but then every game you play at international level is hard," said the 16-year-old from Raheny, who has already played in the Manchester City reserves.

"If we play as well as we can we have a good chance of progressing in the tournament. We should do all right."

Ireland will hope that they have acclimatised as best as possible to the heat, which was 23║C at matchtime yesterday morning.

"We felt it hard the first few days as we trained with additional tops on to get used to it," said McCarthy.

"We must show good spirit, as we always do, play well as a team and keep the ball."

Kerr faces several dilemmas as he decides on his starting 11. Who plays in midfield alongside Keith Fahey and Stephen Capper and what pairing he goes for up front are the key questions, which will be decided only after a very early breakfast.