EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS - 2016/18 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Republic of Ireland Aviva Stadium - Dublin Friday 24 March 2017 20.45CET (19.45 local time) Group D - Matchday 5 Wales EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS OFFICIAL SPONSORS Previous meetings 2 Squad list 3 Head coach 5 Match officials 6 Competition facts 7 Match-by-match lineups 8 Legend 10 1
Previous meetings Head to Head UEFA EURO 2008 Date Stage reached Match Result Venue Goalscorers 17/11/2007 QR (GS) Wales - Republic of Ireland 2-2 Cardiff Koumas 23, 89 (P); Keane 31, Doyle 60 24/03/2007 QR (GS) 1-0 Dublin Ireland 39 Total Qualifying Home Away Final tournament Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA Republic of Ireland 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 - - - - 13 5 3 5 16 13 Wales 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 - - - - 13 5 3 5 13 16 2
Squad list Republic of Ireland Current season Qual. No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers - Colin Doyle 12/06/1985 31 Bradford - 0 0 0 0 - Darren Randolph 12/05/1987 29 West Ham - 4 0 0 0 - Keiren Westwood 23/10/1984 32 Defenders Sheff. Wednesday FT - 0 0 0 0 - John O'Shea 30/04/1981 35 Sunderland - 2 0 0 0 - Stephen Ward 20/08/1985 31 Burnley * 3 0 0 0 - Richard Keogh 11/08/1986 30 Derby - 1 0 0 0 - Alex Pearce 09/11/1988 28 Derby - 0 0 0 0 - Seamus Coleman 11/10/1988 28 Everton * 4 1 0 0 - John Egan 20/10/1992 24 Brentford - 0 0 0 0 - Cyrus Christie 30/09/1992 24 Derby - 0 0 0 0 Midfielders - Glenn Whelan 13/01/1984 33 Stoke * 4 0 0 0 - Aiden McGeady 04/04/1986 30 Preston - 1 0 0 0 - Jonny Hayes 09/07/1987 29 Aberdeen - 0 0 0 0 - James McCarthy 12/11/1990 26 Everton - 2 0 0 0 - Conor Hourihane 02/02/1991 26 Aston Villa - 0 0 0 0 - David Meyler 29/05/1989 27 Hull - 2 0 0 0 - James McClean 22/04/1989 27 West Brom - 4 3 0 0 - Jeff Hendrick 31/01/1992 25 Burnley - 3 1 0 0 - Daryl Horgan 10/08/1992 24 Preston - 0 0 0 0 - Callum O'Dowda 23/04/1995 21 Bristol City - 1 0 0 0 Forwards - Jon Walters 20/09/1983 33 Stoke * 4 0 0 0 - Kevin Doyle 18/09/1983 33 Colorado - 0 0 0 0 - Shane Long 22/01/1987 30 Southampton - 3 1 0 0 Coach - Martin O'Neill 01/03/1952 65-4 0 0 0 3
Wales Current season Qual. No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers - Wayne Hennessey 24/01/1987 30 Crystal Palace FT - 4 0 0 0 - Owain Fôn Williams 17/03/1987 30 Inverness - 0 0 0 0 - Danny Ward 22/06/1993 23 Huddersfield - 0 0 0 0 Defenders - James Collins 23/08/1983 33 West Ham - 1 0 0 0 - Chris Gunter 21/07/1989 27 Reading - 4 0 0 0 - Neil Taylor 07/02/1989 28 Aston Villa - 4 0 0 0 - Jazz Richards 12/04/1991 25 Cardiff - 0 0 0 0 - James Chester 23/01/1989 28 Aston Villa - 4 0 0 0 - Joseph Walsh 13/05/1992 24 MK Dons - 0 0 0 0 - Ashley Williams 23/08/1984 32 Everton * 4 0 0 0 - Ben Davies 24/04/1993 23 Tottenham * 3 0 0 0 Midfielders - David Edwards 03/02/1986 31 Wolves - 3 0 0 0 - Joe Ledley 23/01/1987 30 Crystal Palace * 4 0 0 0 - Shaun MacDonald 17/06/1988 28 Wigan - 0 0 0 0 - Aaron Ramsey 26/12/1990 26 Arsenal - 1 0 0 0 - Joe Allen 14/03/1990 27 Stoke * 3 2 0 0 - Andy King 29/10/1988 28 Leicester - 3 0 0 0 Forwards - Gareth Bale 16/07/1989 27 Real Madrid * 4 4 0 0 - Sam Vokes 21/10/1989 27 Burnley - 4 1 0 0 - Hal Robson-Kanu 21/05/1989 27 West Brom - 4 0 0 0 - Tom Bradshaw 27/07/1992 24 Barnsley - 0 0 0 0 - Harry Wilson 22/03/1997 20 Liverpool - 0 0 0 0 - Ben Woodburn 15/10/1999 17 Liverpool - 0 0 0 0 Coach - Chris Coleman 10/06/1970 46-4 0 0 0 4
Head coach Martin O'Neill Date of birth: 1 March 1952 Nationality: Northern Irish Playing career: Lisburn Distillery FC, Nottingham Forest FC, Norwich City FC (twice), Manchester City FC, Notts County FC, Chesterfield FC, Fulham FC Coaching career: Grantham Town FC, Shepshed Charterhouse FC, Wycombe Wanderers FC, Norwich City FC, Leicester City FC, Celtic FC, Aston Villa FC, Sunderland AFC, Republic of Ireland The highlight of Northern Irish international O'Neill's playing career was winning the 1977/78 English title and 1979 and 1980 European Cups under Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest (though he did not play in the first of those finals). He also appeared at the 1982 FIFA World Cup. After injury ended O'Neill's career, he entered management with non-league Grantham, Shepshed and Wycombe, whom he led into the Football League for the first time in 1993 and a further promotion the next year. He left Wycombe for Norwich in June 1995 but within six months had gone to Leicester, whom he would guide into the Premier League, winning the 1997 and 2000 League Cups to earn two UEFA Cup campaigns. O'Neill was appointed by Celtic in summer 2000 and in five years at the helm landed three league titles and three Scottish Cups, the Scottish League Cup completing a 2000/01 treble. He also led them to the 2003 UEFA Cup final. Managed Aston Villa between 2006 and 2010, then Sunderland from 2011 to March 2013. O'Neill was appointed Ireland manager, to be assisted by fellow former Forest player Roy Keane, that November, and led the team to UEFA EURO 2016 via a play-off win against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Agreed to stay on until the 2018 FIFA World Cup before the finals, where Ireland were eliminated by hosts France in the last 16. Chris Coleman Date of birth: 10 June 1970 Nationality: Welsh Playing career: Manchester City FC, Swansea City AFC, Crystal Palace FC, Blackburn Rovers FC, Fulham FC Coaching career: Fulham FC, Real Sociedad de Fútbol, Coventry City FC, Larissa FC, Wales A solid defender, Coleman came through the youth ranks at Manchester City but started his career in earnest with home-town team Swansea, where he won Welsh Cups in 1989 and 1991. Picked up the first of 32 caps for Wales while at Crystal Palace, where he occasionally served as a makeshift striker, before joining then reigning English champions Blackburn in 1995 for an injury-ravaged two-year stay. A broken leg sustained in a car crash in 2001 when Coleman was playing for Fulham effectively ended his playing days, but he was brought on to the club's coaching staff, taking the top job after a successful stint as caretaker in 2003. After leaving Fulham in 2007, Coleman headed abroad to manage first Real Sociedad and then Larissa either side of a spell at Coventry. Hired as Wales manager in January 2012 following the death of former team-mate Gary Speed, Coleman signed a two-year extension in November 2013, and was rewarded by guiding the side to UEFA EURO 2016 their first major tournament since 1958. Even better was to come in France, as Wales upset the odds by reaching the semi-finals, their best-ever performance in a major finals. 5
Match officials Referee Assistant referees Fourth official FIFA Match Commissioner Referee observer Nicola Rizzoli (ITA) Lorenzo Manganelli (ITA), Filippo Meli (ITA) Davide Massa (ITA) Bernd Barutta (GER) Itchko Lozev (BUL) Referee Name Date of birth UEFA matches Nicola Rizzoli 05/10/1971 7 87 Nicola Rizzoli Referee since: 1988 First division: 2001 FIFA badge: 2007 Tournaments: UEFA EURO 2016, 2014 FIFA World Cup, 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, UEFA EURO 2012, 2011 FIFA Club World Cup Finals 2014 FIFA World Cup 2013 UEFA Champions League 2010 UEFA Europa League FIFA Wold Cup matches involving teams from the two countries involved in this match Date Competition Stage reached Home Away Result Venue 12/10/2012 WC QR Republic of Ireland Germany 1-6 Dublin Other matches involving teams from either of the two countries involved in this match Date Competition Stage reached Home Away Result Venue 12/10/2012 WC QR Republic of Ireland Germany 1-6 Dublin 13/06/2015 EURO QR Republic of Ireland Scotland 1-1 Dublin 26/06/2016 EURO R16 France Republic of Ireland 2-1 Lyon 6
Competition facts The Week of Football concept enables fans around the world to enjoy the very best action from the European Qualifiers which will determine UEFA's representatives at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup comprises nine groups of six teams, with matches played on a home-andaway basis. Qualifying takes place under the 'Week of Football' concept, introduced ahead of the UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying campaign, in which games are spread out from Thursday to Tuesday, shining the spotlight on more teams on the road to the finals in Russia. Moreover, thanks to the Week of Football, at least 43% of matches will be played on weekends, giving fans a better chance to follow the action on television, in the stadiums and on UEFA.com. Kick-off times will be set mainly at 18:00CET and 20:45CET on Saturdays and Sundays and at 20:45CET for Thursdays, Fridays, Mondays and Tuesdays. In double-header matchweeks, sides will play on Thursday/Sunday, Friday/Monday or Saturday/Tuesday. Each day of the Week of Football will feature eight to ten games. The nine group winners will qualify directly for the final tournament. The eight best runners-up will contest play-offs to decide the last four qualifiers for the finals. The 13 qualifiers then join hosts Russia in the finals to make it 14 UEFA member associations represented. How qualification works The other confederations have the following qualifying berths: Africa: 5 Asia: 4.5 North and Central America and Caribbean: 3.5 Oceania: 0.5 South America: 4.5 7
Match-by-match lineups Republic of Ireland FIFA World Cup - Qualifying round Group D Team Pld W D L GF GA Pts Republic of Ireland 4 3 1 0 7 3 10 Serbia 4 2 2 0 9 5 8 Wales 4 1 3 0 8 4 6 Austria 4 1 1 2 6 7 4 Georgia 4 0 2 2 3 5 2 Moldova 4 0 1 3 2 11 1 Matchday 1 (05/09/2016) Serbia 2-2 Republic of Ireland Goals: 0-1 Hendrick 3, 1-1 Kostić 62, 2-1 Tadić 69 (P), 2-2 Murphy 81 Republic of Ireland: Randolph, Coleman, O'Shea, Keogh, Whelan, Long (91 Clark), Brady, McClean, Hendrick (75 Murphy), Ward (70 Quinn), Walters Matchday 2 (06/10/2016) Republic of Ireland 1-0 Georgia Goals: 1-0 Coleman 56 Republic of Ireland: Randolph, Coleman, Clark, Duffy, McCarthy, Long (94 O'Shea), Brady (79 Whelan), McClean, Hendrick, Ward, Walters Matchday 3 (09/10/2016) Moldova 1-3 Republic of Ireland Goals: 0-1 Long 2, 1-1 Bugaev 45+1, 1-2 McClean 69, 1-3 McClean 76 Republic of Ireland: Randolph, Coleman, Clark, Whelan, Duffy, McCarthy (80 Meyler), Long (63 O'Dowda), McClean, Hoolahan (86 O'Kane), Ward, Walters Matchday 4 (12/11/2016) Austria 0-1 Republic of Ireland Goals: 0-1 McClean 48 Republic of Ireland: Randolph, Coleman, Clark, Whelan (24 Meyler), Arter, Brady, McClean (85 McGeady), Hendrick, Hoolahan (78 McGoldrick), Duffy, Walters Matchday 5 (24/03/2017) Republic of Ireland-Wales Matchday 6 (11/06/2017) Republic of Ireland-Austria Matchday 7 (02/09/2017) Georgia-Republic of Ireland Matchday 8 (05/09/2017) Republic of Ireland-Serbia Matchday 9 (06/10/2017) Republic of Ireland-Moldova Matchday 10 (09/10/2017) Wales-Republic of Ireland Wales FIFA World Cup - Qualifying round Matchday 1 (05/09/2016) 8
Wales 4-0 Moldova Goals: 1-0 Vokes 38, 2-0 Allen 44, 3-0 Bale 51, 4-0 Bale 90+5 (P) Wales: Hennessey, Gunter, N. Taylor, Davies, Chester, A. Williams (82 Collins), Allen, King, Bale, Ledley (67 Huws), Vokes (75 Robson-Kanu) Matchday 2 (06/10/2016) Austria 2-2 Wales Goals: 0-1 Allen 22, 1-1 Arnautović 28, 1-2 Wimmer 45+1 (og), 2-2 Arnautović 48 Wales: Hennessey, Gunter, N. Taylor (91 Huws), Davies, Chester, A. Williams, Allen (56 Edwards), King, Bale, Ledley, Vokes (77 Robson-Kanu) Matchday 3 (09/10/2016) Wales 1-1 Georgia Goals: 1-0 Bale 10, 1-1 Okriashvili 57 Wales: Hennessey, Gunter, N. Taylor (70 Cotterill), Davies, Chester, A. Williams, King (61 Robson-Kanu), Bale, Edwards, Ledley (73 Huws), Vokes Matchday 4 (12/11/2016) Wales 1-1 Serbia Goals: 1-0 Bale 30, 1-1 A. Mitrović 86 Wales: Hennessey, Gunter, N. Taylor, Chester, A. Williams, Allen, Robson-Kanu (68 Lawrence), Ramsey, Bale, Ledley (84 Edwards), Vokes Matchday 5 (24/03/2017) Republic of Ireland-Wales Matchday 6 (11/06/2017) Serbia-Wales Matchday 7 (02/09/2017) Wales-Austria Matchday 8 (05/09/2017) Moldova-Wales Matchday 9 (06/10/2017) Georgia-Wales Matchday 10 (09/10/2017) Wales-Republic of Ireland 9
Legend Competitions Club competitions UCL: UEFA Champions League ECCC: European Champion Clubs' Cup UEL: UEFA Europa League UCUP: UEFA Cup UCWC: UEFA Cup Winners' Cup SCUP: UEFA Super Cup UIC: UEFA Intertoto Cup ICF: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Other abbreviations National team competitions EURO: UEFA European Football Championship WC: FIFA World Cup CONFCUP: FIFA Confederations Cup FRIE: Friendly internationals U21FRIE: Under-21 friendly internationals U21: UEFA European Under-21 Championship U17: UEFA Under-17 Championship U16: UEFA European Under-16 Championship U19: UEFA Under-19 Championship U18: UEFA European Under-18 Championship WWC: FIFA Women's World Cup WEURO: UEFA European Women's Championship (aet): After extra time pens: Penalties No.: Number og: Own goal ag: Match decided on away goals P: Penalty agg: Aggregate Pld: Matches played AP: Appearances Pos.: Position Comp.: Competition Pts: Points D: Drawn R: Sent off (straight red card) DoB: Date of birth Res.: Result ET: Extra Time sg: Match decided by silver goal GA: Goals against t: Match decided by toss of a coin GF: Goals for W: Won gg: Match decided by golden goal Y: Booked L: Lost Y/R: Sent off (two yellow cards) Nat.: Nationality N/A: Not applicable Statistics -: Denotes player substituted +: Denotes player introduced *: Denotes player sent off +/-: Denotes player introduced and substituted Squad list D: Disciplinary *: Misses next match if booked S: Suspended Overall: Total appearances in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tournament only Disclaimer: Although UEFA has taken all reasonable care that the information contained within this document is accurate at the time of publication, no representation or guarantee (including liability towards third parties), expressed or implied, is made as to its accuracy, reliability or completeness. Therefore, UEFA assumes no liability for the use or interpretation of information contained herein. More information can be found in the competition regulations available on UEFA.com. 10