Ireland see off Greek challenge

Friday, 23 March 2007
The Republic of Ireland picked up a second UEFA European Under-17 Championship Elite round Group 1 win today to set up a final-day decider against Germany.
McCarthy goal enoughIreland had beaten Scotland 2-1 on Matchday 1, when Greece lost 4-1 to Germany, who repeated that scoreline against the Scots earlier today. That meant Greece needed a substantial victory to keep any qualifying hopes alive, but instead fell to a goal from James McCarthy two minutes into the second half.
Win neededThe winning manager Sean McCaffrey said: "The boys were brilliant again. We always believed it would come to a decisive match for us against Germany and that is the way it has worked out." His side trail Germany on goal difference, so must defeat the home nation in front of a sell-out crowd of 6,000 in Nordhorn on Monday evening to pip their rivals to the finals in Belgium. Greece themselves require a success against Scotland in Lotte to avoid finishing fourth.
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