Republic of Ireland draw with Italy to end Euro U21 hopes
The Republic of Ireland were trying to qualify for the U21 Euros for the first time in their history
- Published
The Republic of Ireland Under-21s missed out on qualification for Euro 2025 after drawing 1-1 with Italy in Trieste.
Cesare Casadei opened the scoring for the Italians with Andrew Moran equalising in the second half.
The result helped Italy finish top of Group A to seal their place in next year's tournament.
A draw was not enough for Jim Crawford's side to make the play-offs however, despite finishing on 19 points, level with Norway.
The Norwegians won 3-0 against Turkey in Tuesday's other game to finish second and book their place in the play-offs due to their better head-to-head record against the Irish.
The late and controversial equaliser conceded against Norway on Friday night at Turner's Cross, alongside the defeat in Oslo, proved fatal for the Republic's hopes of reaching the tournament in Slovakia.
But it was always going to be a tough task for them against an Italian side that had not tasted defeat in the group.
But they made a bright start and almost scored on 17 minutes as Sean Roughan floated in a corner to Johnny Kenny.
His header appeared to be a routine save for Sebastiano Desplanches, but he spilled the ball back to the forward, whose snap-shot was then cleared off the line by Nicolo Bertola.
The Italian defender made a timely intervention again on 23 minutes, stopping Baba Adeeko's effort from crossing the line after another corner caused Italy problems.
That proved crucial as the hosts launched a swift counterattack and scored the opener just seconds later.
Captain Willy Gnonto beat Roughan and cut the ball back to Casadei, who found the far corner with a low strike.
Leeds forward Gnonto then saw a powerful strike tipped on to the crossbar by goalkeeper Tiernan Brooks.
Things almost went from bad to worse for the Republic on 36 minutes when Italy were awarded a penalty after Anselmo Garcia McNulty brought down Tommaso Baldanzi.
Gnonto stepped up but blazed his spot-kick over the bar - and the Republic took advantage of the let-off as they levelled on 66 minutes.
Captain Moran stroked into the bottom corner after meeting substitute Aidomo Emakhu's cross.
The Republic pressed hard but were unable to find a winner despite Emakhu going agonisingly close in injury time.