Long road ahead before reaching her goal

Unlike her rivals for the Fifa Puskás Award, James Rodriguez and Robin van Persie, Ireland’s Stephanie Roche will be taking the rocky road to Zurich for the prize-giving ceremony on Monday week.

For, while private jets will transport the two World Cup stars to Switzerland, the first woman in history amongst the top three contenders for the coveted prize must take a nine-hour cross-country car trek from west France to sit alongside the duo at the glitzy bash. The circuitous route for Roche is required due to commitments for her club, ASPTT Albi.

Sitting in the FAI suite at Aviva Stadium yesterday, ahead of her return to France today, the 25-year-old outlined the limited options available to her given what the fixture schedule has thrown up.