The four giants of the European game will battle it out in the St Patrick's Day Invitational Football Tournament n Dublin in an event that is due to start tomorrow and last until next Saturday (March 20).

The tournament will be one of the highlights of the South Dublin County Council (SDCC) week-long St Patrick's Day celebrations.

Billy Coman of SDCC said: "It is a great opportunity for us to view the team that will be representing Ireland at the upcoming European Championships and Paralympic games in 2012, and indeed all the participants.

"It is fantastic for people to see soccer played at such a high level, and an incredible achievement for the young players to represent their country at senior international level.

"They are a credit to themselves, their families and their community."

The tournament will take place in three venues across South Dublin at St Francis FC, Peamount Utd and Tallaght Stadium.

The final and third place play-off at the Tallaght Stadium will also see the Black Knights, the Irish Defence Forces Parachute Team, show their support for the boys in green when they parachute the final match ball in from 5,000 feet.

Luke Evans, Ireland's captain, said: "Playing for my country is a truly great honour.

"Since I joined the Irish cerebral palsy football team I have gone on to represent Ireland at World, European and Paralympic level.

"The greatest highlight was to medal at the European Football Championships last June."

Paul Cassin, the Irish team manager, added: "The quest for football excellence is always a challenging one.

"Our squad train 12 hours per week and get key high performance training support from some of Ireland's top training experts.

"The lads are a credit to the FAI (Football Association of Ireland) jersey and sit proudly amongst the FAI's international representation."

The cerebral palsy teams play seven-a-side football on a slightly smaller 11-a-side pitch.

Ireland are currently ranked sixth in the world and the goal is to reach the podium at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

The St Patrick's Day Invitational Football Tournament begins with Scotland taking on England at the St Francis FC before host Ireland meet Holland at Peamount Utd in what will be a repeat of the 2010 BT Paralympic World Cup final when the Dutch claimed the gold medal.

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