Republic of Ireland manager Sue Ronan expects goalkeeper and captain Emma Byrne to see out the World Cup qualifying campaign despite comments by the Arsenal player she might consider her position after the summer due to the financial pressures involved in going on international duty.
Byrne cited the abolition of what were always very small daily allowances paid to players as a concern in an interview published at the weekend. As Ronan named her squad yesterday for the World Cup qualifier against Germany in Tallaght on April 5th, she acknowledges the FAI’s inability to pay players called into squads is regrettable but insists the available resources have been put to good use.
Our budget this year is €360,000,” says Ronan. That’s twice the (men’s) under-21s budget so if you look at it from that point of view, the money’s being put into the team. “We’ve had 170 games together in the last four years and that’s more than any other team apart from maybe the men’s team and we’re had 24 internationals in the last two years alone; I think in the three previous to that, it was 15.”
As for Byrne, she says, “she has committed to playing with us and hasn’t given any indication since to suggest that she’s not. She’s a big part of our success; she’s our captain and a very good player.”
Germany have scored 40 goals without reply in the qualifiers so far, including a 9-0 defeat Russia.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND SQUAD : Goalkeepers: E Byrne (Arsenal), N Reid-Burke (Raheny United). Defenders: S Perry (Millwall), M de Burca (Galway WFC), L Quinn (Eskilstuna United), D Caldwell (Avaldsnes), M Campbell (Florida State University), K Duggan (Peamount United). Midfielders: J Ann Russell (Peamount United), C Grant (Raheny United), S Killeen (Raheny United), D Gorman (Peamount United), S Smyth (Amazon Grimstad). Forwards: F O’Sullivan (SC Frieburg), D O’Sullivan (Glasgow City), S Roche (Peamount United), R Littlejohn (Sandviken), Á O’Gorman (Peamount United).
