Cautious Gleeson keeping Georgia on Irish minds
QUALIFIERS: Denise O'Sullivan, left, and Niamh Fahey during a Republic of Ireland women training session at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium II in Tbilisi, Georgia. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Georgia were the surprise packets by reaching the Euros, shocking Greece, but there’s no danger of Ireland being similarly embarrassed in the women’s version.
This is the mother of all mismatches, the disparity wider than Ireland’s men against Gibraltar in the last campaign, and the only question lingering about this Tbilisi trip is if the Girls in Green can kill off their opposition by the midway stage.
Tuesday’s second leg at Tallaght could transpire into an opportunity to experiment for the playoff final next month. Last time against the Georgians, 11-0 and 9-0 wins were tantamount to shooting practice. Katie McCabe scored a hat-trick in each hammering and there’s every chance of the captain swelling her 26-goal tally on her 90th cap.
For any other game, being without goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan would be a talking point. She’s suspended for accumulating bookings, including a bizarre yellow card issued in Metz for time-wasting when Ireland were chasing a deficit.
Grace Moloney is favourite ahead of Sophie Whitehouse to guard the sticks but whichever custodian deputises will likely be busier with their feet than hands.
As the official FAI preview circulated yesterday reveals, a mammoth 94 places separate the nations in Fifa’s rankings. Georgia are the lowest-ranked team in the playoffs, their place awarded arising from finishing second in League C of the Euro qualifiers behind Belarus.
“Like every international country here, they're in a playoff so they'll try to be as competitive as they can,” was the diplomatic take of Ireland boss Eileen Gleeson.
“They've developed over the years in line with their resources and landscape.
“So the thing for us in these playoffs is that we are not complacent. We don't let that or results from previous games guide our preparations.
“That’s been that message we’ve been promoting across the staff and the players as well. These are two must-win games.”
That they most certainly are. This is a necessary gateway to a shootout – also over two legs on November 29 and December 3 – against Wales or Slovakia for a place at next year’s Euros in Switzerland. Ireland’s status as the League A nation within the four-team subset accords them the advantage of home advantage in the second leg.
Ireland broke their tournament duck for the 2023 World Cup on away soil in Hampden Park whereas Lansdowne Road may well mark the scene of them sealing a first-ever Euros breakthrough.
This has been a leisurely build-up, despite the long trek to the far side of Europe. Much like Brosnan, who will return for the second leg, the injury-enforced withdrawals of Megan Connolly and Louise Quinn won’t discommode Ireland’s mission. Each was dropped at some stage during Gleeson’s 13 months at the helm and the squad is of such depth that capable reinforcements are at the ready.
Against a team composed primarily of home-based players, space is inevitable. Israeli manager Iris Antman is in her first campaign at the helm and try as she does to adopt a cautious approach, Ireland have too much in the armoury for this not to descend into a siege.
Denise O’Sullivan, along with McCabe, will probe at will and having Kyra Carusa back as the focal point up front provides a clinical finisher to convert the plentiful chances anticipated.
Gleeson will be locked and loaded for what comes next in this convoluted route to qualification.
“If we start to get too far ahead of ourselves, the complacency can set in,” she noted.
“Yet obviously you must plan for the future as well and to have simultaneous processes going on but the primary focus is obviously getting over the line with these two games.”
If they can conclude the first leg with their joint-record away victory from their last trip, minds will be allowed to wander.
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