O'Connor looking for German scalp with U21s

Anthony O’Connor is hoping to take some of the fighting spirit his fellow Corkmen displayed in the All-Ireland Hurling Final into the Republic of Ireland’s UEFA U21 Championships clash with Germany.

The talented Blackburn Rovers defender was engrossed in the thrilling Croke Park clash between the Rebels and Clare but his mind is very much focused on helping Noel King’s U21s to a memorable victory in Sligo tomorrow.

“Germany are always tough opponents and they’ve always produced winning teams at every level from senior down through underage,” said the 20-year-old.

“It’ll be completely different from our last game against the Faroe Islands. We’ll expect them to have a lot of the ball but we’ll have to be disciplined and hopefully we can do the business.

“I’m sure they’ll be a threat in attack. Over the years they’ve produced exciting players like Mesut Osil and Lewis Holtby who are now in the Premier League.

“But we’re no pushovers ourselves. We’ve got good players with a strong back four and a strong midfield and I think they’ll find us hard to break down and hopefully we can get a couple of goals and claim the three points.”

O’Connor played against the Germans when he captained Ireland in an U16 game at Blarney United in Cork in 2008 and although both sides have changed a lot he remembers Ireland as being a match for their opponents.

“It seems like a while ago now. I was captain on the day and we lost 1-0 on the day and it was quite even. We then drew 1-1 with them in Kerry a few days later,” he recalled.

“They were a good passing side and I know German sides tend to be like that but we have to stick at it and I’m sure we can get a result.”

O’Connor admitted to being a little disappointed not to see Jimmy Barry-Murphy’s Cork lift the Liam McCarthy Cup after a thriller today.

He grew up with Cork hurling star Patrick Horgan and was invited to play for Horgan’s Glen Rovers team but the Mayfield native was more focused on his soccer with Kilreen Celtic.

“I thought we may have been robbed at the end because it seemed to me that time was up,” said O’Connor, who had a loan spell at Burton Albion last season.

“Maybe a draw was a fair result because Clare were probably overall the better team. Cork showed the traditional fighting spirit and stuck with them so hopefully we can do them in the replay.

“I grew up with Patrick Horgan and our mothers are friends. He’s probably Cork’s main player and I thought he’d won it at the end with his last point. Hopefully he can do it in the replay.

“He was a decent soccer player when he was younger but he was a fantastic hurler so he was right to stick with it. I played a bit of hurling with my school and was just a basic defender who knocked everything away from me. Soccer was always my number one sport.”

O’Connor won his fourth cap in last month’s 4-1 victory over the Faroes and is working to break into Blackburn’s first team soon after a decent pre-season.

A victory over Germany at the Showgrounds tomorrow could help him make the breakthrough sooner rather than later.

Tickets for the UEFA U21 Championships fixture (7.45pm) are available at the Showgrounds throughout the day and are selling fast.