Healy not thinking about Irish U-21 history ahead of Turkey clash
The key to making history? Don’t think about it.
Ireland U-21 midfielder Matt Healy (right) is fully aware history remains in his side’s hands coming into their last four Euro 2025 qualifiers, but taking it one step at a time remains the priority for the team.
Jim Crawford’s men aim to do what no Irish side has ever done and qualify for an U-21 European Championship finals in Slovakia next year. Sitting in second, they remain in a strong position to nab top spot while the runners-up in the group will secure a play-off at the least.
Ahead of Friday’ s clash away to Turkey in Istanbul, the focus remains on the task at hand, not any glory that may lay ahead for them later this year.
“Yeah, it’s exciting. We all want to get to the Euros, but we have to look at each game at a time. We’re not looking at Latvia, Norway or Italy at the moment, we’re just looking at Turkey on Friday,” said Healy, speaking from the U-21s Dublin base ahead of Friday’s qualifier (5.45, live on RTÉ)
“Then we’ll move on to Latvia [at home] on Tuesday, and hopefully, get the job done here. Every game we play is exciting. Friday will be tough, Turkey are good opponents, as we saw at Turner’s Cross, but we’re looking forward to it as well.”
Competitive
Notably, Friday will mark the U-21s’ first competitive action since their 7-0 thumping of San Marino last March. Having beaten Croatia’s U-21s and drawn with England’s U-20s in friendlies in June, Cork native Healy says his side treat every game in the same way.
“That’s just the way the fixtures are. We always said we’ll take it one game at a time, so even if it’s a friendly game, we’ll focus on that and now we’re looking at Turkey,” said the 22-year-old.
“It was a fiery game [the 3-2 win over Turkey last year], but those games are enjoyable as well. We deserved to come out on top, and hopefully, we get the same result on Friday. It set our standards coming into the campaign and showed we could beat top opposition.”
After just starting his second season with Belgian second-tier side Francs Borains, Healy admits it remains his dream to play in England one day, but for now, he’s enjoying the regular first-team starts.
“I’d definitely recommend it [Belgium]. It’s not easy by any mark going over there, but there’s so much top football in Europe,” added the ex-Cork City man.
“My dream as a kid was to play football in England and hopefully one day I still will, but just realising there is a lot of good football in Europe to develop you is the main thing. I’ve gained a lot of experience. I’ve played nearly every minute and that was the most important thing really. I’m enjoying it.”