Academy schoolboy Cemal Ramadan was a 67th minute sub as Ireland’s U16s lost 1-0 to Romania at a UEFA Development Tournament in Dublin yesterday.
Ireland manager Tom O'Connor made a number of changes to the team which beat Germany 1-0 on Sunday, including dropping Ramadan to the bench, but felt his side struggled with the demands of two games in two days.
"The game against Germany took a lot of us and, while we made five changes, it was obvious Sunday had taken its toll because we were sluggish in the first half," he said.
"The second half performance was much better but unfortunately the one good chance in the game fell to them and they took it.”
Ramadan, who was watched by academy head of recruitment Steve McGavin, is one of this summer’s new intake of scholars, along with fellow striker Shane McLoughlin, who was also named in the squad for the tournament but is yet to play. Ireland complete their games with a match against Belgium tomorrow.