Irish Paralympic 7-A-Side Soccer Team Depart For 2014 CPISRA European Championships In Portugal

The Irish Paralympic soccer squad of fourteen departed Dublin yesterday bound for Maia, Portugal, for the CPISRA 2014 European Championships which take place from July 23rd - August 2nd inclusive.

This Irish team of athletes with Cerebral Palsy, led by Captain Luke Evans, is currently ranked sixth in the world, and fourth in Europe following an impressive fourth place finish at the CPISRA Intercontinental Cup last year.

Drawn in Group A alongside the Netherlands, Finland and Denmark the Irish team will be confident of securing a path through to the quarter-finals with themselves and the Netherlands (currently one place ahead of Ireland in the world rankings) hopefully vying for top spot in the group. Ukraine, drawn in Group A are the top ranked team in the world at the moment with Current Paralympic Champions from London 2012; Russia the pick of Group B.

With eleven teams in total competing eight progress to the quarter-final stage from the three groups. Coached by Gerard Glynn and Derek Kavanagh this Irish team are hopeful of a really strong showing in the heat of Portugal and get their challenge underway with their opener against Finland at midday on Thursday 24th July.

At the last European Championships in 2010 the Irish team won a break though bronze medal before the heartbreak in 2011 of missing out on London 2012 Paralympic Games qualification by just one place.