Denise O'Sullivan: Wales loss still hurts but it will stand to us with World Cup push
HOMETOWN HERO: Denise O'Sullivan with supporters after the UEFA Women's Nations League, League B match between Republic of Ireland and Slovenia at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.
Initially Denise O’Sullivan admitted the pain from the Republic of Ireland’s failure to qualify for this summer's Women’s European Championship means she will be doing everything she can to avoid watching it.
But quickly, upon a brief reflection, the Cork native would backtrack on that statement to insist she will tune in but only to support her North Carolina Courage teammates that will be involved in the tournament in Switzerland when it kicks off on July 2.
Ireland had the chance to be there themselves and make history by qualifying for back-to-back major tournaments in the process, but a 2-1 loss to Wales at the Aviva Stadium in their playoff second leg last December dashed those dreams.
“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,” said the Cork native, speaking after Ireland’s 1-0 win over Slovenia at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Tuesday night.
And while it was nice for O’Sullivan to again taste victory in front of her home crowd, and the 40 or so family members in attendance, it wasn’t the 4-0 victory they needed to leapfrog their opponents and secure automatic promotion to League A in the UEFA Women’s Nations League.
The Girls in Green (who are 26th in the FIFA world rankings) are now destined for the playoffs yet again where they will meet either Austria (ranked 18th), Iceland (13th), Belgium (20th) or Denmark (12th) with the draw taking place on Friday.
“It’s another chance in October and we’ll find out on Friday. We’ll be ready for that. At least having another chance is a positive,” continued O’Sullivan, who also discussed the impact made by Carla Ward since she took over for Eileen Gleeson before the start of this Nations League campaign.
“We have experience under our belt. I’ve heard the team names, all high level so 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 (in 2027). 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. There’s definitely been a lot of change (under Ward). It took a long time to find our feet and way.
“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.
“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.
"Losing Louise, Fahey, Diane and Julie-Ann, so many at the same time, is really tough on the team so I think Katie, Courtney, myself and a few others must take the responsibility of driving the team on.”
Rather than competing at the Euros, next up for Ireland is a glamourous friendly double-header against an extremely talented USA side (ranked number one in the world) in Colorado and Cincinnati on June 27 (Irish time) and 29 respectively.
And while Carla Ward has announced that captain Katie McCabe will not be making the trip for fear of ‘burnout’ following her Champions League winning excursions with Arsenal recently, O’Sullivan confirmed she will be involved.
And for once, she won’t face an arduous journey to represent her country.
“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’ll 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.
“I’m looking forward to it. USA are a top, top team and we can go out to challenge ourselves.
“It will be a brilliant experience,” concluded O’Sullivan.
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