O'Sullivan: 'Our focus is to get as many wins as we can to be ranked highest'

QUALIFYING FOR EUROS: Denise O'Sullivan and interim head coach Eileen Gleeson during a Republic of Ireland women press conference at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

However humbling the growing prospect is of Albania overtaking Ireland in the men’s seeding, their female equivalent have no such worries ahead of facing the minnows tonight.

The team under caretaker manager Eileen Gleeson are justifying their top seed status by sauntering towards top spot in the group and nothing the Albanians conjure, either in Dublin or Shkodër on Tuesday, will brush them off-course.

Ireland return to Tallaght from the high of gracing Aviva Stadium for the first time but there should be similar goal entertainment for the fans against a team whose three wins from last 17 matches came against North Macedonia, Armenia and Kosovo. In contrast to the one place separating the nations in the FIFA men’s rankings released yesterday, there’s a whopper 48 for Albania to climb for the 24th-placed Irish women to be caught.

It’s not so much a debate at this stage about Ireland completing the six-match series with maximum points but whether accruing the maximum return can be accompanied by 540 minutes of clean sheets.

Maybe this leisurely campaign is what’s needed for the team after the intensity of a World Cup watershed followed by the jettisoning by the FAI of their manager, Vera Pauw, within a month of their return from Australia.

Adverse player feedback was integral to the FAI decision but it won’t be until next year’s Euro qualifiers – when they’ll be managed by a permanent successor to Pauw – that the worthiness of that call will be assessed.

Another six points will seal top spot with next month’s double-header against Hungary and Northern Ireland to spare.

Most importantly, that guarantees competing in League A for the qualifiers, a smoother route towards reaching a first-ever Euros.

"That's all we are thinking about,” stressed Denise O’Sullivan about the linkage between this sister competition and the real business of 2024.

“The Nations League is massively important to qualify for the Euros. Our focus is to get as many wins as we can to be ranked highest (for the draw)."

Gleeson concurred. Again, using the men’s comparison against Gibraltar last week, there’s far more to be gained from the women beating the bottom side.

"Every team meeting, we talk about Euro 2025 in Switzerland,” she asserted. “There’s importance to these Nations League matches because we really want to be there at the Euros."

With players like Corkwoman O’Sullivan and captain McCabe entering their peak, that’s a realistic aim. The playmaker, whose brace on Sunday earned Arsenal a 2-1 win at Bristol City, has opted against attending the Ballon D’Or ceremony on Monday at the salubrious Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris for the functional setting of northern Albania.

“To be nominated for such a prestigious award is incredible and for an Irish player to do that, we're really lucky to have her,” America-based O’Sullivan said about her friend’s nomination.

"I was talking to Katie about the awards but all she could say was: 'I want to captain my country and that's really all I care about right now – facing Albania'.

"She was fully focused on the game. You can see that in Katie; how fully invested she is in this team and how much she wants to go out and play for her country, she loves doing it.” 

It will be a memorable night for another stalwart, as Diane Caldwell provides company to O’Sullivan and five others in the coterie of centurions.

The defender went global last month by declaring World Cup qualification was achieved in spite, rather than because, of jilted boss Pauw.

She had fallen out of favour for the World Cup but was restored to the side by Gleeson in the strolls over Northern Ireland (3-0) and Hungary (4-0).

Her non-appearance at pre-match press suggested her spot wasn’t cast-iron amid competition from fit-again but Gleeson did highlight ‘a proud moment’.

“I’ve huge respect for Diane,” noted O’Sullivan. “What she’s done for women’s football in Ireland is absolutely huge and she’s someone you want in the squad.

“She’s always been a really good example to me. The biggest thing is just how single day she’s just a professional. I’ve looked up to Diane for a long time now and it will be brilliant seeing her reach 100 caps.”