European Championships qualifier: Republic of Ireland v France, Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Tuesday, 6pm – Live on RTÉ 2
It has been an unrelentingly punishing Nations League campaign for the Republic of Ireland with Group 3 leaders France not expected to ease up in Cork.
At least Katie McCabe returns from suspension.
The Hervé Renard-coached team, captained by Wendie Renard, qualified for the European Championships in Switzerland next summer by beating Sweden last Friday. Olympic preparation and pride should provide enough motivation for the French to hand Ireland a sixth competitive loss and finish top of the group ahead of England.
Last week, the Football Association of Ireland were criticised for overshadowing this international window and the alleged historic abuse suffered by female Irish internationals, by unveiling Heimir Hallgrimsson as the men’s manager.
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“We have tried to pay absolute respect to the women’s international team,” said David Courell, the FAI interim chief executive. “[The timing of the Hallgrimsson appointment] is the reality of professional football.”
Yesterday, they scheduled a press conference with Hallgrimsson in Dublin at the same time Eileen Gleeson held her official pre-match briefing in Cork.
Also, the marketing spend required to sell out the Aviva Stadium for the men’s games against England, Greece and Finland appears to have impacted Páirc Uí Chaoimh ticket sales. Only 14,000 have been purchased so far. Perhaps a walk-up crowd interested in seeing local heroes Denise O’Sullivan and Megan Connolly might make the 45,000-capacity seem half-full.
“The amount of times I’ve walked past it growing up,” said Connolly of the GAA cathedral by the river Lee. “My brother plays Gaelic football and my brother-in-law, so I’ve been there plenty of times to see them play for Cork and Nemo Rangers as well.
“To finally have a game here and represent Cork in Cork is amazing. Cork is home, whenever there is a break in the season, I am straight back because that is where I am at my happiest, around my family and the people I love the most.”
The homecoming should ensure another gutsy Irish performance. Problem is, French stars like Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Delphine Cascarino are tuning up for the Olympic Games opener against Colombia on July 25th.
On Monday afternoon, a fissure of light burst the gloom surrounding Irish football as Dave Connell’s under-19 women’s team drew 0-0 with Spain at the Euros in Lithuania.
“Very proud of the girls,” posted O’Sullivan. “A great start.”
It’s worth noting that Germany and the Netherlands come next for the part-timers, six of whom just sat the Leaving Certificate. The FAI know that without access to professional coaching in schools on a daily basis, sustained progress for both underage and senior teams is impossible.
“When I did my pro licence we spent some time in Holland and there are sports schools there, so [football] would be integrated into the curriculum,” said Connell recently. “And in Sweden it’s part of the curriculum that players train in the morning and some schools and clubs are integrated, but I think we’re a bit away from that.”
Until that happens in Ireland, a scoreless draw with the world champions will go down as a miracle result. Spain had 12 shots on target. None of them beat Athlone Town goalkeeper Katie Keane.
A more accurate guide to where Ireland currently exist within the women’s game was visible at Carrow Road last Friday where O’Sullivan was the only Irish player able to live with the English on a technical level in a 2-1 loss.
It gets easier in the coming months. Ireland are already relegated to Nations League B but a seeded play-off to reach Euro 2025 can be achieved by finishing stronger than Poland. The Poles have zero points from five games in Group 4 and they take a minus-12 goal difference into their last game, at home to Iceland. Ireland have zero points and a minus-eight goal difference.
Another miracle result, this time in Cork, should secure beatable opposition come the Euros play-off in October. Progress and there will be a tougher second round play-off over two legs on November 22nd and December 3rd.
