Soccer:The Republic of Ireland's schedule ahead of the Euro 2012 finals has been finalised with the team due to meet Bosnia & Herzegovina and Hungary in their last two warm-up games. Giovanni Trapattoni's side open their Euro campaign against Croatia and have opted for their Balkan neighbours in the final home friendly on May 26th.
From there, the squad will travel to Italy for a week long training camp, which is likely to be staged in the town of Montecatini in the Tuscan hills outside of Florence. On June 3rd they will then move on to Budapest and their final run-out against Hungary on June 4th.
After that, all roads lead to Poland with the Irish squad based in the town of Gdynia, near Gdansk. Ireland kick-off their championships, a first major finals since the World Cup in 2002 and only a second ever appearance at the Euros after Germany in 1988, against Croatia on June 10th.
With demand already outstripping supply for the Irish games – Spain and Italy make up the teams in Group C - FAI chief executive John Delaney has not given up hope of securing additional tickets for Ireland’s pool games. As it stands, the FAI will receive just 6,000 for each game to distribute among the Irish fans.
"I am hopeful that we might get some extra tickets as we get nearer to the Euros,” Delaney said this morning. “We have made representations. We have got 6,000 tickets per game, they'll all go. We are going to try to secure some extra tickets for the supporters because it is in our interest and everybody's interest to get as many Irish people into those three games as possible to encourage the team and get behind the team."
Much has been made about the quality of opposition that Ireland will face before meeting three of Europe’s strongest teams, with the Czech Republic (at the end of February) providing the only other opposition prior to Poland.
"The Czech Republic have qualified (for the Euros), to be fair,” Delaney countered. “They are one of the 16 teams that are there. There was a rule that you could not played one of the top 16 teams within 30 days of the Euros.
"I think it was best to get somebody who will play a similar style of football so we got Bosnia, who are 19th in the world and are very similar to Croatia. The manager felt it would be right to play a similar type nation to prepare properly. The first game is a really important game."
Ireland’s warm-up games
February 29th
Republic of Ireland v Czech Republic (Aviva Stadium)
May 26th
Republic of Ireland v Bosnia & Herzegovina (Aviva Stadium)
June 4th
Hungary v Republic of Ireland (Budapest)
Euro 2012 campaign
June 10th
Republic of Ireland v Croatia (Poznan)
June 14th
Spain v Republic of Ireland (Gdansk)
June 18th
Italy v Republic of Ireland (Poznan)
