Finn Harps player Gavin McAteer was part of the The Republic of Ireland Under-17 men’s squad which qualifies for the World Cup for the first time on Tuesday.
A 5-0 rout of Iceland in Poland sees Colin O’Brien’s side finish second in their qualifying group, going through the finals later this year.
The Milford man was introduced for the closing minutes and was involved for the fifth and final goal.
48 teams will compete at the tournament in Qatar, which gets underway on November 3rd.
Speaking after qualification, O’Brien said: “We came here with the belief that we could qualify for the EUROs. We knew there was a double prize at stake, and while we’re disappointed to not get to the European Championships, to reach a World Cup is an amazing achievement for the players and the staff. It’s a great achievement for our country.
“We knew the group would be tight and the squad of players is in a better place than they were in October. I had a good feeling we’d compete for top spot, the defining moment in the Belgium game was their penalty. But I feel we deserved to get to a World Cup. To get to there is a reflection of the monumental effort from the players and staff over the last 11 days.
“Me and the staff always drill into the players that it’s all about getting through the first phase of qualifiers. It’s about putting yourself in the position to reach a Finals and we did that in October.
“Every game this week, the players performed exceptionally and they were hurting they didn’t win the game against Belgium and that was a positive sign within our environment. We beat Poland in Poland convincingly and put in a five-star performance against Iceland.
“There are very good players up and down this country who work with exceptional coaches. This is a great news story for Irish football and it’s a great day for every person involved with the players’ development and they should take pride they helped them reach a World Cup. No matter the age group the World Cup is a huge event that captures the imagination and attention of the public.
“It shows that when you’re a small country a lot of it comes down to mentality and we knew within the group our mindset was at another level and we had the quality to go with that. That gave us a chance which the boys went on to accomplish.”
