Women's International Preview: Germany -v- Republic Of Ireland
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The Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team will play their final World Cup qualifier game this evening in Heidenheim when they face Group 1 winners Germany.
The Germans secured their place in next summer’s World Cup finals which will be held in Canada, with a 4-1 win versus Russia on Saturday in Moscow. Although the Irish can finish second if they beat the Germans today, their chances of a playoff spot for the World Cup are nonexistent. Only four teams will play-off for the right to join the seven group winners at the World Cup finals and this will be decided on the results of the second placed teams against the sides in their group finishing in 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th places.
Russia require a single point today versus Croatia to secure second place but only a win would keep them in play-off contention. They ideally need Finland to lose and Ukraine to draw with Wales in other remaining group games.
With 17 points from nine games Sue Ronan’s side have already gathered their best haul in a World Cup qualifying campaign. They have also kept an impressive six clean-sheets and come into this game without conceding a goal in last 407 minutes of action. Ireland scored a late injury time winner on Saturday versus Slovakia in a game which they dominated throughout. The girls in green created over 20 chances throughout and were unlucky to hit the crossbar three times through Denise O’Sullivan and Julie Ann Russell twice.
Today’s game will bring back some bitter sweet memories of last April in Tallaght versus Germany, when Ireland almost recorded their greatest ever result in Women’s football. Ireland held the lead for most of the game but eventually lost 3-2 to a fluke goal in injury time. Raheny United winger Siobhan Killeen has been ruled out of today’s fixture due to concussion and has been replaced by clubmate Rachel Graham. Arsenal defender Niamh Fahey will undergo a late examination on her knee injury she picked up on Saturday to assess her availability on the day.
As we draw a close to another major tournament qualifying campaign the future looks bright for the girls in green. After an exciting summer with the Irish U19’s making the UEFA U19 Euro Semi Final and Raheny United qualified for this season’s Champions League, we are sure to see our name on the main stage in the near future.
A live stream of today’s match can be viewed at Kick Off here at 5pm Irish Time: http://bit.ly/ZpnbrD
SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Emma Byrne (Arsenal), Niamh Reid-Burke (Raheny United).
Defenders: Áine O’Gorman (UCD Waves), Sophie Perry (Brighton & Hove Albion), Meabh de Burca (Galway WFC), Louise Quinn (Eskilstuna United), Niamh Fahey (Arsenal), Karen Duggan (UCD Waves), Megan Campbell (Florida State University).
Midfielders: Julie Ann Russell (UCD Waves), Rachel Graham (Raheny United), Dora Gorman (UCD Waves), Ciara Grant (UCD Waves), Shannon Smyth (Amazon Grimstad).
Forwards: Fiona O’Sullivan (Notts County), Denise O’Sullivan (Glasgow City), Stephanie Roche (ASPTT Albi), Ruesha Littlejohn (Sandviken).
