Baba in ireland squad

Castlebar Celtic star Thierry Baba (14) has been named in the Republic of Ireland Under 15 squad for two friendlies against Poland this week.

The Irish will meet their Polish counterparts on Tuesday, November 11, in Mniow (2.30 p.m.) and two days later the sides will meet again in Strawczyn (12 p.m).

'It’s our first time to play Poland at this level so it will be an interesting game for the players to compare themselves with their counterparts from Poland,' said head coach Colin O’Brien.

'This is their first opportunity to play as a side and for us to assess how they carry out what we’ve asked them to do when we have the ball and when the opponents are in possession.

'We’ve spent a lot of time working on identifying and scouting these players. The process includes from the ETP centres nationwide to the Kennedy Cup competition during the summer where every team was watched at least five times by FAI staff.

'After that players were brought together for national assessment and from that 36 players came together and trained. Eighteen of those players will travel to Poland next week and the other 18 will have another development fixture in the coming weeks.'

Ireland will also face Scotland and the Netherlands at Under 15 level this season.

Thierry's brother Baba is in the Ireland Under 19 squad that has upcoming UEFA qualifiers. Interestingly, so is Ryan Manning of Mervue United, whose brother Ronan joins Thierry in the Under 15 squad.