Stuart Dallas and Michael O'Neill - UEFA European Under-19 Championship draw - video Dailymotion

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Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill and ex-Leeds United and Northern Ireland midfielder Stuart Dallas speak ahead of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship draw at Titanic Museum in Belfast.

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00:00 The competition qualifies, so congratulations to all the coaches for the job they've done to get here.

00:05 I think it's nice that it's not just the powerhouses of Europe that are here and I know that underage

00:11 football is particularly well supported here in Northern Ireland. We've seen that with youth

00:16 tournaments in the past and you know I think the responsibility lies with everyone in Northern

00:21 Ireland to make this as positive an experience as possible. Obviously our senior team now has got a

00:25 lot of youngsters who've come through the under-19s and you'll be looking at the next crop coming

00:29 through as well. Oh totally, I mean I always think that a country of our size, under-19s,

00:36 our better players under 19 tend to fast track through under 21. We've seen that recently with

00:42 two of last season's squad at the under-19 now playing senior international football. So yeah,

00:47 I think that we see some of the top young players in Europe, our players will get the opportunity

00:51 to test themselves against those players and I think we're going to see some you know stars

00:56 in the future definitely on come July. Stuart Feevitty, a couple of weeks for you announcing

01:01 your retirement. Congratulations on a wonderful career. Whenever it comes to this tournament,

01:06 for the young players who are going to be playing, what are your recommendations going to be going

01:09 through that line? I think first and foremost excitement. You know it's a fantastic opportunity

01:15 for the players, particularly our lads you know here on home soil. So I think they'll be excited,

01:21 they'll be nervous at the same time but I think this, as I said, this is a fantastic opportunity

01:26 for them to play against Europe's best and see where they are and I'm sure they have a manager

01:31 in Dink Gareth that has played in the major tournament before and to be able to give some

01:36 valuable experience to the boys but you know they'll be really excited for it. And as for you,

01:41 what's next? I will have to see, I'll keep the diary clear, I'll come over for sure in July and

01:47 watch the games. I would say I'll have to have conversations with certain people as to what,

01:52 you know, where I go next but I'm excited for the future and I'm delighted to be here today.

01:57 And Michael, in terms of the teams coming here and the managers, what would you say to them?

02:00 Well they'll all come with a competitive edge, they'll all come determined to do as well as

02:06 they possibly can. I think that the tournament has the possibility of maybe throwing up a surprise

02:13 winner as well. I think like any tournament, preparation is everything so I know these guys

02:18 here will do everything possible and they've already looked at everything during the venue

02:22 so they'll tell all the things that you try and correct as an international manager but

02:26 the most important thing is to have your players ready and as Stuart says,

02:29 you know, enjoyment is a huge part of it and the experience alone and hopefully

02:33 you have a great experience here at Northern Ireland. I think it's now time for the draw.

Stuart Dallas and Michael O'Neill - UEFA European Under-19 Championship draw

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