McCarthy continues to give youths a chance

IAN HARTE, the 18 year old Leeds United player, will tonight be given the opportunity of proving that even in the hardened world of professional football, there is still a place for romance.

Harte with just two senior appearances for Leeds to his credit, had planned to spend part of his holidays, watching his uncle, Gary Kelly, play for Ireland.

Now with Kelly, in common with the majority of Mick McCarthy's established players, opting out of the end of season programme, for a variety of reasons, he finds himself in the team to meet The Netherlands in Rotterdam tonight.

Apart from those rare escapes from the anonymity of reserve team football at Elland Road, his only experience of big time competition was at Lansdowne Road last Sunday when he replaced Terry Phelan for the second half of the game against Croatia.

Yet, he achieved enough in 45 minutes to convince the manager that in an age of unrivalled opportunity for Ireland's emerging talent, he is deserving of careful consideration.

"He may be only a lad but he doesn't get knocked about too much," said McCarthy. "The thing which impressed me most about him was that he always wanted to get on the ball. And once it was at his feet, he showed a lot of composure.

"It's another chance for another young player and I think Ian is going to enjoy it. Coming to play the Dutch in Rotterdam, in their last game before the European finals, will be a lot different from running out at Lansdowne Road.

"But it's not bothering people like Ian too much. Maybe that's down to the brashness of youth but the prospect of facing one of the best teams in Europe doesn't appear to faze them. In fact, I think they were far more in awe of meeting players like Paul McGrath and Andy Townsend for the first time last week."

Sharing Harte's challenge of proving that a strong pair of legs can be a match for maturity, will be Gary Breen and David Connolly.

Parallels between Breen and David O'Leary have already been drawn alter the convincing manner in which the 22 year old Birmingham central defender carried himself in the Croatian game.

O'Leary was some three years younger when he imposed himself on the international scene with a remarkable performance against England, at Wembley 20 years ago.

The analysis of Breen's performance against Croatia evoked memories of O'Leary's celebrated debut and McCarthy is not alone in his assessment that with luck the newcomer can go on to enjoy an equally influential career.

Connolly, 19 on Thursday, is set an even more demanding task in excavating the openings in an Ajax defence which, in both club and international football, has shown itself to be on a par with any in the world.

A sweet strike in the game against Celtic a week last Sunday, illustrated the sharp reflexes which earned him such a high rating in the closing stages of Watford's troubled season.

The competitive element in testimonial games is a long way removed from that which he can expect tonight but playing alongside Tony Cascarino, the hope is that he can reproduce those predatory instincts in a game in which Ireland's strategy will be built on careful defence and the quick counter attack.

Niall Quinn, recovering from a punishing afternoon on Sunday is still likely to make an appearance at some stage of the game but a chest infection, allied to a knock on the ankle ruled out any possibility of a second start for Keith O'Neill.

There are many who believe that in accepting a six match programme at this time of year, the FAI's ambition outstripped realism. McCarthy, careful in choosing his words, has not been drawn into the argument but he hinted yesterday that this is in fact the case.

"Perhaps we could have done without this game or the one against Croatia," he said. But we're now committed to giving it our best shot and we aim to do just that".

Realistically, however, it's asking a lot of a young unproven team to play a second game in the space of 48 hours against a side of the quality of Holland.

In sharp contrast to their opponents the Dutch have played only two games this year, losing to Jurgen Klinsmann's penalty against Germany before beating China 2-0 at Tilburg.

This will be their last appearance before opening their programme in the European finals against Scotland, a fact which will draw Craig Brown and Terry Venables, among others, to the game and Guus Hiddink, their manager is promising a performance to savour.

"We have prepared very well for the finals in England but you must wait for a game before you know how strong you are", he said.

"I notice there are not many players left in the Ireland team we beat in Liverpool last year but we know from experience that there is no such thing as a bad Irish side.

"It was the same when they played in Tilburg two years ago. And then they gave us a surprise by winning the game".

Hiddink is committed to replacing Danny Blind for the game against Scotland but his hopes of experimenting with Frank De Boer in that position tonight are likely to be undermined by an ankle injury to the veteran Ajax player.

The Dutch will have a final work out this morning before naming their team but with the exception of Patrick Kluibert there will be no notable absentees.

Kluibert who wrought so much damage in the Irish defence at Anfield is still recovering from the knee injury which has restricted him to just 60 minutes football in the last two months.

Dennis Bergkamp will again spearhead their attack with Richard Witschge and Peter Hoeksra, signed by Ajax from PSV Eindhoven as a replacement for Marc Overmars providing the width.

With Frank de Boer still under treatment the likelihood is that the Dutch will again go with their familiar defensive formation of Michael Reiziger, Danny Blind and Winston Bogarde with the Sampdoria player Clarence Seedorf deployed in the anchor role in midfield.

Against that formidable array of talent Ireland may be doing well to restrict Holland's winning margin to respectable proportions. And yet the lessons of Tilburg in April 1994, when a similarly improvised team upstaged the Dutch are sufficiently vivid to hold out just the slim hope of a surprise.