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The 42
5 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
'It's another chance for us. We want to be at that World Cup in Brazil'
FOR DENISE O'SULLIVAN, the disappointment of not completing the Nations League mission in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, soon gave way to the optimism that the impending play-offs bring. Preparation for that begins with an international friendly double-header against the United States in June. O'Sullivan has confirmed that she will be available for selection. She had over 40 family members in the crowd on Tuesday night, all watching on as Ireland tried relentlessly to get the four-goal victory they needed against Slovenia. Saoirse Noonan provided the only goal of the night as Ireland came up short at full-time. 'They're waiting for me up in the lounge and all having a beer,' O'Sullivan said after another one of her trademark performances that was built on workrate. She shared the pitch with two other Cork natives Saoirse Noonan and Megan Connolly and was thrilled to be playing in front of a home crowd again. 'A different buzz. I know there were fewer fans compared to France last year but the crowd was still really good. They were really noisy and I'm proud to come back here.' That 1-0 result means Ireland finish second in Group B2 and must go to promotion/relegation play-offs in October. Their opponents will be third-placed League A outfit, and a draw on Friday afternoon at 12pm will determine who Ireland will face in a two-legged tie. Austria, Iceland, Belgium and Denmark are all in the mix to face Carla Ward's side. League A status would significantly boost their 2027 World Cup qualification hopes. Advertisement 'All high level,' O'Sullivan said about the quality of those teams. 'We'll have to be ready for that but it's another chance for us. We want to be at that World Cup in Brazil. That defeat against Wales from last year can stand to us going into the playoff. We've learnt a lot, it still hurts a lot because the pain hasn't gone from that game.' That Wales defeat last December denied Ireland a place at the European Championship which gets underway next month. O'Sullivan will be trying her best to avoid the coverage of the games but will monitor the results for her North Carolina Courage teammates who will be playing. 'I think I'll be switching the TV off, doing everything I can not to watch it but I have teammates from Courage playing in it. I know I'm saying I'll be switching the TV off but I'll watch to cheer them on. It's still devastating not to be there, for sure.' Reflecting on the campaign as a whole, O'Sullivan is content with Ireland's record of five wins from six games. She points to the change in management which took place in January when Carla Ward took over from Eileen Gleeson to guide Ireland through the rest of their 2027 Fifa Women's World Cup campaign. O'Sullivan says the team is still learning to adapt to the former Aston Villa manager's preferred style of play. 'It will definitely take time. The way Carla and staff are implementing her style of play, it doesn't happen overnight. You can see even in the first half how we created a number of chances. As a team we want to keep doing that and get better. 'There's definitely been a lot of change. It took a long time to find our feet and way. In We didn't start well in any game but came out with wins which shows the team's character. I still think we're still trying to get used to the way Carla and the staff want us to play but five wins out of six is positive.' Looking ahead to the friendlies against the United States, O'Sullivan says she is looking forward to sidestepping the usual jetlag that comes with reporting for international duty. Captain Katie McCabe will not be travelling due to a hectic season which ended in Champions League glory with Arsenal recently. Ireland boss Ward says that there are others in similar circumstances who are likely to miss the trip. But O'Sullivan is happy to be involved. 'I'll be in the US,' says O'Sullivan. 'It's my one week in the whole year I get off from Courage but that's okay. I'm happy to play because any chance I get playing for my country I want to be there. 'I'm excited. For once, I don't have to travel 20 hours. I won't have jet lag but the rest will. 'USA are a top, top team and we can go out to challenge ourselves. It will be a brilliant experience.'
Irish Examiner
7 days ago
- General
- Irish Examiner
'We need a Carla Ward team on the ball and an Irish mentality off it' says Ireland WNT boss
Uefa Women's Nations League B2 IRELAND 1 (Saoirse Noonan 19) SLOVENIA 0 Play-offs hold fond memories for Irish women's football. Attention between the generation led by Emma Byrne losing their Euro one in 2008 until Hampden Park in 2022 offered a generational breakthrough. Amber Barrett and her big toe will be forever renowned for slaying the Scots to end a qualification famine and begin the journey to Australia. Ireland's route to the next World Cup, the 2027 version in Brazil, will be shaped by the outcome of another play-off in October. Whereas the Celtic clash was considered a meeting of similar standard, Ireland are up against it for this one. Uefa's preference for established nations dictates nations finishing third in League A can preserve their status by beating a runner-up from League B. That's where Ireland find themselves following relegation from League A and failure to bounce straight back. Denmark, Iceland, Belgium or Austria await in Friday's draw. Only the latter have not qualified for next month's Euros. Best case scenario is being paired with Austrians, contrasted with a duel against Denmark. Granted, they trundle into the playoffs off a 6-1 hammering by a slick Sweden side but this will be their seventh straight Euros, the peak being a runners-up finish in 2017. Ireland must navigate the playoffs to be among the top 16 European teams competing for World Cup qualification – with it a playoff assured – because they were always playing catch-up since their second game of the campaign resulted in a shock 4-0 defeat to the Slovenians. 'All four teams are tough but I believe that we can go and beat anyone,' stressed Ward about the next competitive step, after a double-header summer friendly against USA. 'Players that have played for me at club and country often laugh at me because I'm somebody that believes that we can do anything if we really want to.' Despite being 12 places behind Ireland in Fifa's rankings, the team from the Balkans are a structured unit and prepared for what Ireland produced in both games. They were entitled to prioritise elevation over defeat when the three minutes of stoppage time elapsed, thrilled to upset the script Uefa favour abiding by. Saoirse Noonan's winner on her Cork homecoming registered a fifth victory in six for Ireland but not by sufficient margin to dislodge the table-toppers. Just under 10,000 were at Pairc Uí Chaoimh to see Noonan add a second international goal to the first she scored in 2021 but Ireland required another three to salvage top spot in a group they were favourites for. Performances for Ireland have been erratic since Carla Ward's first window in charge went awry. Emily Murphy was the gleeful recipient of a present to salvage victory in Turkey on Friday and her goalscoring impact earned a start in Ward's reshuffled side. This was Ireland's turn to bat and clocking up goals rather than runs was their objective. Defenders were in the thick of the aerial barrage, with Anna Patten first to threaten with a fifth minute poked volley straight into the goalkeeper's hands. Abbie Larkin was next to test Zala Mersnik by cutting in from the left and drilling a shot which the stopper stooped low to repel. Pressure was building and the breakthrough soon arrived after 19 minutes. When Denise O'Sullivan and Murphy collided in attempting to connect with Katie McCabe's left-wing cross, it seemed the chance was lost but the latter dashed to retrieve the ball. Once she prevented it rolling out of play, the ball was teed up for defender Jessie Stapleton to loft a high cross into the box. Her delivery hung long enough in the air for Noonan to elude her marker and plant a thumping header from 10 yards that flew beyond the reach of Mersnik. Hordes of green shirts flooded into the final third in the hope of using that opener as a stimulus and while Patten jabbed a volley wide Ireland still had to be wary of the counter. Lara Prašnikar, who'd scored a brace in Koper, almost exposed Ireland's high line by nipping in behind but Courtney Brosnan did well to bat her shot away. It was a similar pattern for the second half with Ireland overloading the wings without peppering the goal. With a bit more conviction, Ireland might have neared their target. Stapleton's header from McCabe's cross five minutes after the interval was more of a glance, as was another from Caitlin Hayes with 17 minutes left. Murphy's shot was parried and the introduction of Megan Campbell added the throw-in dimension Ireland have become increasingly dependent on. Just once did it threaten with a scud towards fellow substitute Marissa Sheva but the goalkeeper smothered well. Also on towards the end was Louise Quinn for her 122nd cap. The towering centre-back had rescued Ireland in the past, up from the back Shane Duffy-style, but the chase was too steep even for her legendary powers. Frustration boiled into Patten incurring a booking to rule her out of the play-off, one of five players walking a suspension tightrope, and they will require all their nous to emerge from the two-leg assignment. 'We've seen from game one to game six the improvement in our team,' added Ward. 'The way I'd put it is we need a Carla Ward team on the ball and an Irish mentality off the ball. 'If we want to play in an exciting way going forward, and that's the way I like my teams to play, we have to be better out of possession. 'We are still building. Throughout this campaign, we have had five training sessions with the entire squad so to build the way we are and to finish the way we did against Slovenia. 'I could not ask for more. A couple of more goals yes, but we got to be proud of that performance. That was an Irish performance." IRELAND: C Brosnan; J Stapleton (M Campbell 62), C Hayes, A Patten; E Murphy, M Connolly, D O'Sullivan, K McCabe, A Larkin (Louise Quinn 80); K Carusa (M Sheva 80), S Noonan (A Barrett 62). SLOVENIA: Z Mersnik; K Erzen, L Golob, D Conc, S Agrez; S Makovec, L Prasnikar, K Korosec, S Kolbi, Z Kramzar (M Zver 88); M Sternad (N Kajzba 68). Referee: Miriama Bockova (Slovakia). Attendance: 9,433.
Irish Examiner
7 days ago
- General
- Irish Examiner
Family support makes Saoirse Noonan's homecoming extra 'special'
It took Saoirse Noonan just 19 minutes into her first competitive start to register her second goal for the Republic of Ireland. But while her maiden strike against Georgia back in November 2021 meant the world to her, this finish arguably meant more to the Cork native. This time as she wheeled away in celebration after seeing her bullet header from close-range hit the roof of the net, she did so in front of her home fans, almost 10,000 of them that had packed into Páirc Uí Chaoimh. And this time, rather than the finish coming late on a 9-0 hammering, it proved to be the only goal, although that would also come as a disappointment given the fact Ireland needed to win by four or more to snatch an automatic place in League A from their opponents Slovenia. But for Noonan, and her family, the goal will forever be remembered. 'I knew they were up above in that stand, so it was really special,' began the former Douglas Hall, Cork City and Shelbourne forward, who had already played here with the Cork Ladies Footballers and scored here during her Sciath na Scol days. Read More Ireland head into Uefa Nations League playoffs despite Leeside win 'My grandad would've been a proud man tonight. He's at every game. And my granny, this is the first time she has seen me play senior, so it was emotional, it meant a lot to me. 'Being in Cork was enough motivation in itself, wearing the Irish jersey as well was enough motivation, I didn't need anything else, but it (her family watching) does add that little bit of grit. 'Coming back wearing a different shirt, it's the same feeling, you're representing something you are really proud of, so it was phenomenal. 'It was a bit surreal. Obviously it was my first competitive start so first I was just trying to find my feet, ease my way into the game and not get caught up in the moment. It's unbelievable, I'm absolutely delighted. Carla called out the team last night so when I got the nod, I just told my parents and asked them to keep it quiet and just try to treat it like any other game. But, yeah, what a feeling. When it went in and hit off my head, I just saw it dipping and yeah, I don't even know how I celebrated or anything. I just had a little moment, took a deep breath and then switched my focus because we wanted to get that next goal quick. When we got that goal, I think we thought 'we have a 1-0 lead, let's see if we can get another one before half time, that was the focus. 'We were pushing, we were unlucky and maybe there were one or two little decisions that we could have made better but it's about building, this team is good and we're working hard every day and we're growing. 'You can see the growth from the first time Carla came in until now, even for myself, I just feel each camp and each day, it feels like we are getting better and this something to build on now going forward. 'Obviously we want to be happy we won but you still have that in the back of your mind that we didn't top the group and they're off celebrating because they did. We have to be proud of ourselves, it's still a win, it's still international level and wins don't come around that easy. 'I have to thank Carla (Ward) for bringing me back and giving me minutes, leaving me keep going with confidence. 'When I got the nod to play, I felt like I owed it to the staff, they have so much belief in me, so I'm delighted. We got the win, but obviously we wanted to score four goals and top the group as well.' Ireland Playoff picture The four teams finishing third in the League A groups will play off with the four League B group runners-up over two legs. The winners will play in League A for the European Qualifiers phase for the 2027 Fifa Women's World Cup; the defeated teams will play in League B. The draw takes place on Friday. All ties will be played between October 22 to 28. League A third-place teams: Austria (Fifa ranking: 18), Iceland (13), Belgium (20) and Denmark (12). League B second-place teams: Republic of Ireland (26), Northern Ireland (44), Finland (25), Czechia (30).
The Irish Sun
7 days ago
- General
- The Irish Sun
Emotional Saoirse Noonan says ‘my Grandad would be proud' after achieving rare record for Ireland in win over Slovenia
SAOIRSE NOONAN beamed "my Grandad would be proud" after she achieved a historic first in Ireland's win over Slovenia. The striker scored the winning goal as Advertisement 2 Saoirse Noonan scored the winning goal for Ireland against Slovenia Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile 2 She became the first person to play at Pairc Ui Chaoimh in soccer and GAA Credit: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile By starting for the Girls in Green, the 25-year-old became the first person to playing in the home of football . In 2020, she played full forward for the Rebelettes against She described it as a "surreal" occasion and revealed how much it would mean to her family . Noonan said: 'Carla called the team last night. Advertisement Read More on Ireland WNT "When I got the nod, I just told my parents and kept it a bit quiet and just tried to treat it like another game. 'The goal, when it went in and hit off my head, I could just see it dipping. I don't even know how I celebrated or anything. 'I just had a little moment, took a deep breath and was back into focus, we wanted to get that next goal quick. 'My Grandad would have been a proud man tonight, he would have been at every game with my granny, and this was the first time she's seen me play senior (for Ireland). Advertisement Most read in Football Exclusive "It was emotional and it meant a lot to me. 'Being in Cork is enough motivation in itself. Wearing the Irish jersey is enough motivation. 'You can't make this up' - Irish fans in stitches at Ruesha Littlejohn's playful prank upon Katie McCabe's camp arrival "You don't need anything else really. It does add that little bit of grit. 'Since the new stadium's been built, I played here with the Cork ladies footballers at senior level. Advertisement "To come back wearing a different shirt, it's the same feeling, you're representing something you're really proud of. "It's phenomenal.' By beating revenge for the 4-0 hammering they received back in February. However, it was not enough for Advertisement Ireland will now face a third-placed team from League A in a two-legged promotion/relegation play-off in October. Win the play-off and Ireland would also gain a guaranteed play-off spot for the 2027
Irish Independent
7 days ago
- General
- Irish Independent
‘It was a bit surreal' – Saoirse Noonan on dream goal in history-making appearance for Ireland at Páirc Ui Chaoimh
Saoirse Noonan said it was a 'surreal' feeling after the Corkonian became the first person to play inter-county football and international soccer at Páirc Uí Chaoimh before scoring Ireland's only goal in her first competitive start.
