Ireland has changed national team coach earlier than planned on Saturday. Mick McCarthy has been replaced for Stephen Kenny, who is to lead the country through the playoffs to the European Championship.
McCarthy wouldn’t actually leave until the European Championship next summer, but the European title fight was recently moved to next summer due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Ireland has to grab a ticket to the European Championship through the playoffs. The Irish will face Slovakia in the semi-finals and then possibly in the final against Northern Ireland or Bosnia and Herzegovina. The date of those duels is still unknown due to the corona crisis.
The number 34 in the world ranking came third in the group in the European Championship qualification. They finished third in group D behind Switzerland and Denmark, who qualified directly for the European Championship.
Ireland is placed in pool E with Spain, Sweden and Poland when it is placed for the European Championship. In that case, the Irish play two of the three games in Dublin, which is one of the twelve cities of play throughout Europe.
McCarthy, 61, was in his second spell as Ireland’s coach after having previously been between 1996 and 2002. Kenny, 48, was Young Ireland’s coach until Saturday.