Ireland and Slovakia contest third

The Republic of Ireland face Slovakia in the match to decide third-place in the UEFA European Under-19 Championship today in the Ullevaal stadium in Oslo.

Enticing curtain raiser
The tournament could not have hoped for a more enticing curtain raiser to the main event later in the day between Spain and Germany. Slovakia were a revelation in Group A, sticking five goals past Norway and then the Czech Republic, before being pipped to a place in the final by a single point after a 3-1 loss against Spain.

Rollercoaster campaign
The Irish also missed out on topping their section by a single point after a rollercoaster campaign in Group B. An opening 2-1 win against Belgium was followed by a disappointing 3-0 loss against Germany.

England shocked
When the Irish then trailed England 2-0 at half-time of their final group game their prospects of taking part in Sunday's double bill at the Ullevaal looked bleak. However the Irish found three second-half goals against a shocked English side to win the game and set up this meeting with Slovakia in the bronze medal match.

Full strength sides
Both sides will be at full strength for this game although having played three games already in just a week respective coaches, Peter Polák and Brian Kerr may elect to rest some of their wearier players.

Daly and Šebo look for more goals
Two men hoping they will not be rested though are Ireland's Jonathan Daly and Slovakia's Filip Šebo, who are currently tied with England's Dean Ashton and Spain's Fernando Torres at the top of the tournament's goalscoring charts.
 
Tournament enlivened
Both side's have enlivened this tournament with their presence, and both have heart, skill and commitment in abundance – in fact, do not be surprised if the curtain raiser steals the show on Sunday!