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Irish Times
an hour ago
- General
- Irish Times
‘He can talk all he likes': Ireland boss Carla Ward won't be drawn on Slovenia manager's ‘tactical win' claims
Republic of Ireland manager Carla Ward has batted away suggestions that she was outfoxed by Slovenia manager Saša Kolman when the two nations faced off earlier this year. Kolman trumpeted his 'tactical win' after beating the Girls in Green 4-0 in February. He claimed he didn't bother with a Plan B as he knew what Ireland would do, stating that they 'played into our hands'. The teams are prepared to meet again in a Nations League promotion decider at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork (Tuesday, 6pm). Ward hit back on Monday, saying: 'I'm going to concentrate on us and what we do. He can talk as much as he wants. It's not hard to look at a Carla Ward team over the last eight years and work out how I like to play the game. 'He can comment all he likes. It just shows that he's probably had a look at my career, which I can take a little bit of confidence from. My focus is on my team and how we set up.' READ MORE As a consequence of that heavy loss in Ward's second game at the helm, Ireland require a four-goal victory over Slovenia tonight to achieve automatic promotion to League A. Along with that, they would secure a guaranteed play-off spot for the 2027 World Cup. Should Ireland fall short, they will face a third-placed team from League A in a two-legged promotion/relegation play-off in October. Italy, Portugal, Iceland and Austria are currently positioned as the likely opponents. Ireland enter with doubts surrounding the participation of Lucy Quinn and Aoife Mannion, who have both started all five games under Ward. Quinn has been struck down by an illness and looks less likely to feature. Mannion is suffering from a quad issue after a long season, but could play a part. But if we want to top this group, we have to be miles better than we were on Friday night — Katie McCabe Ireland have switched to a possession-based style under Ward. Despite that, both of their late goals in last Friday's victory against Turkey came from balls launched into the box. Ward wouldn't be drawn on whether she plans to mix things up for the visit of the group leaders. She said: 'I can't say, can I? I'm not going to tell you that. What I will say is we are preparing ourselves in the best possible way to go and get the job done. Head Coach Carla Ward says Ireland have prepared to 'get the job done' against Slovenia. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho 'There's so many different permutations, but we've whittled it down. We need to win by four clear goals, which sets it up for an exciting evening.' Responding to news that 10,000 tickets had been sold for the game at the home of Cork GAA, she said: 'I've heard an awful lot about the crowd here. I've heard an awful lot about the good times here. We'll be ready. 'We know what we have to do. We're going to have to be aggressive but also secure at the same time.' Ireland's latest recruit, Erin Healy , could be in line for a debut if the team is left chasing goals. Amid a confusing contract situation, Adelaide United had confirmed that the California native will remain with the club for the coming season. However, Ward believes she may yet relocate to Europe, as previously indicated. Hometown hero Saoirse Noonan previously played at Páirc Uí Chaoimh for Cork's Gaelic footballers, so she is in line for a unique achievement if called upon. Louise Quinn harbours hopes of an international swansong as she bids farewell to professional football. Katie McCabe recovered from the celebrations of Arsenal's Champions League triumph to collect the player-of-the-match award in last Friday's 2-1 victory in Turkey. Opposition midfielder Kaja Korošec described McCabe as an 'icon of women's football in the whole world' during her pre-match media duties. McCabe, who captains Ireland, said a big improvement is needed from the performance last Friday. Katie McCabe says Ireland must be better than they were in last Friday's victory against Turkey. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho 'If we don't score the first one, you can forget about the fourth,' she said. 'We just have to be fully concentrated on how we're setting up the game plan and executing it as best as possible. 'For us, we know we can score goals in a lot of different ways. But if we want to top this group, we have to be miles better than we were on Friday night, all over the pitch.' We know Ireland are still the favourites, the best team in the group — Saša Kolman In the opposition dugout, Kolman is targeting another statement win. After their last victory, he received a message of congratulations from Donegal manager McGuinness. The pair struck up a friendship when McGuinness worked at Celtic as a youth coach. 'We were talking after the game on WhatsApp,' Kolman revealed. 'He saw a headline from when I spoke to him at Celtic in 2013, that I thought I was going to 'conquer the world'. 'He said, 'Saša, you took it literally'. And I said, 'Well, you told me so!'' Kolman knows Ireland will provide a different challenge this time around. 'That game in Koper changed Ireland more than it changed us. For sure, they took something out of it. They look very good, very compact. 'We will play to win, but we know who we are playing against. The first game doesn't mean anything. We know Ireland are still the favourites, the best team in the group, so we need to show character again. 'To finish six from six, that would make a huge statement in Slovenia.'
Irish Times
19 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Caoimhín Kelleher finalising €21m move from Liverpool to Brentford
Caoimhín Kelleher will be a late arrival into the Republic of Ireland camp on Tuesday as the 26-year-old is undergoing a medical at Brentford . Ireland face Senegal at the Aviva Stadium on Friday before an end of season friendly in Luxembourg on June 10th. Mark Flekken, Brentford's starting goalkeeper last season, also underwent a medical on Monday at Bayer Leverkusen before the Dutch international's £8 million (€10m) sale to the German club. To replace Flekken, Brentford are expected to pay Liverpool an initial £12.5 million (€15m) for Kelleher with performance related add-ons increasing the transfer fee to £18 million (€21m). READ MORE Leeds United and West Ham United were also interested in signing Kelleher but the Cork man is expected to link up with Ireland captain Nathan Collins as Brentford manager Thomas Frank attempts to improve the club's 10th place finish in the Premier League next season. The other 22 players named by Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson trained at Abbotstown on Monday morning. Hallgrímsson has rested the majority of Irish players in the EFL Championship, like Burnley's Josh Cullen and Middlesbrough's Finn Azaz, as the June friendlies land in the middle of their off-season. The World Cup qualification campaign begins against Hungary in Dublin on September 6th.
Irish Times
a day ago
- General
- Irish Times
Ireland in need of a goal glut against Slovenia to top Nations League group
While they might have travelled to Istanbul last week with the hope of a Nations League victory big enough to eat into group leaders Slovenia's goal-difference advantage, in the end Carla Ward's Republic of Ireland players were just relieved to secure a narrow win . Not for the first time in this group, they had a tough day at the office. Ireland were indebted to a Turkish own goal and Emily Murphy's 89th-minute winner. It kept alive their hopes of topping the group and earning automatic promotion back to League A. But – and it's a huge 'but' – they must beat Slovenia by five goals in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Tuesday evening if they are to overtake them on goal difference. Considering they lost 4-0 to the same opposition in February , that's quite the ask. 'That's character for you,' said Ward after her team recovered from conceding an early second-half goal against Turkey. 'That's the Irish mentality, never rolling over.' They'll need more than big hearts against a Slovenia side that is in pinch-me territory. READ MORE 'We have exceeded our goals,' said their goalkeeper, Zala Mersnik, after last Friday's 2-0 victory against Greece made it five wins out of five in the group. 'Initially, all we wanted was to stay in League B, but our appetites have grown in the meantime.' A year ago, they were in the third tier of the competition, mixing it with nations ranked outside the world's top 100. Since winning promotion, they have cruised through their League B campaign, conceding just one goal in their five games. If they can avoid a heavy defeat in Cork, they'll be playing in League A next time around. Manager Sasa Kolman has bigger ambitions than avoiding defeat. 'We are going to Cork to win, we do not know how to think any other way,' he said on Friday. If Ireland are to pull it off, they will, as Katie McCabe put it after the Turkey game, 'have to be miles better' against Slovenia. 'If we want to be pushing for League A, we can't be conceding goals like that,' she said of Kader Hancar's 49th-minute goal. 'We gave them too much space, we need to take more care with the ball.' 'We need a massive improvement if we are going to beat Slovenia. It's a tough ask. They have played brilliantly for the whole Nations League campaign, but I've got belief in us. We can score goals from different phases of play. We can't rush it; we have to be patient. We need to be at our absolute best.' [ Katie McCabe's story: How gifted Dubliner reached top level of European soccer Opens in new window ] The win in Turkey did at least guarantee Ireland, at worst, the runners-up spot in the group, which would put them in to a two-leg promotion playoff in October against a third-placed team in League A. So there's nothing to lose in this final game. They might as well go for it. Ward has some big selection decisions to make if that goal glut is to be achieved. She won't need to be reminded that when she played an attacking 4-4-2 formation in Koper in February, Slovenia were 3-0 up by half-time. Ruesha Littlejohn, Kyra Carusa and Murphy will be among those pushing for a start, while the manager may need to rejig her defence if Aoife Mannion doesn't recover from the knock that saw her go off at half-time in Istanbul.
BBC News
a day ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Republic of Ireland v Slovenia
Slovenia 4 , Republic of Ireland 0 on the 25th of February 2025 Slovenia Slovenia Slovenia 4 0 Rep. Ireland Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland 25th of February 2025 25 FEB 2025
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Murphy 'over the moon' with Republic of Ireland winner
Republic of Ireland forward Emily Murphy said you "dream" of goals like her late winner over Turkey after her first international goal secured a dramatic comeback victory as the race for top spot in Group B2 goes down to the final was not going according to plan for Carla Ward's side, who needed three points to keep the pressure on group leaders Slovenia, with Kader Hancar's strike giving Turkey the lead early in the first an own goal from Busem Seker with 10 minutes to go and a composed finish from Murphy in the 89th minute meant that the away side were the victors."I am over the moon with the goal," Murphy told RTE."To be honest, I don't quite remember it [the goal], I just remember it coming to me and knowing I had a lot more time than I thought."The past version of myself would have hit it into Row Z, but I took a breath and composed myself and hit it as hard as I could."You dream of the game winners, but ultimately we should have been better and didn't want it to get to that point."Fellow substitute Megan Campbell's throw-in led to the leveller for the Republic of Ireland with Murphy adding that she was proud that 'everyone that came on made an impact'."There is a reason you have substitutes. We need those game changers, and you might need fresh legs or tactics," the Newcastle United striker continued."Thankfully the right decisions were made and everyone who came on made an impact."The result means that the Republic of Ireland have guaranteed second position in Group B2, but they can still clinch top spot on Tuesday night when they welcome Slovenia to Pairc Ui Slovenians come to Cork unbeaten so far in the group and the home side will have to win by at least a five-goal margin after Slovenia were 4-0 victors in the reverse fixture in February.
