No Denise O'Sullivan but Ireland can profit from Dutch doubt
POLES APART: Katie McCabe and Tara O'Hanlon, left, during a Republic of Ireland women's training session at Stadion Galgenwaard in Utrecht, Netherlands. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
The slogan of “No guts, no glory” that greets Ireland's players on the way into the Stadion Galgenwaard will resonate.
The quote by Utrecht’s businessman owner Frans van Seumeren will remind Ireland of the traits exhibited on the last occasion they contested a competitive fixture in the Netherlands.
That 2017 stalemate subdued the celebratory mood around the home team newly garlanded as European champions. It was achieved by a dollop of perseverance and that essential commodity of luck.
This Dutch side Ireland visit carries a different motivation to appease the 15,000 anticipated turnout.
Arjan Veurink’s return to his homeland last April – having assisted Sarina Wiegman to back-to-back Euro titles – was designed to rekindle the glory days.
He’s still working with a sprinkling of players from that glory era he was initially part of with Wiegman but the first competitive outing on Tuesday was something of a disaster.
Being held to a 2-2 draw away to Poland was inauspicious in itself but the fact they ceded 19 attempts on goal, the most for a decade, has bred worry into the locals.
What confronts Carla Ward and her Ireland team is the challenge of exposing those frailties.
They did so for an hour on Tuesday, against a notionally better French team, by pressuring them into hasty and wayward distribution. If Ireland can also frustrate the Oranjeleeuwinnen, they’ve a chance of upsetting the team ranked 11 in Fifa’s standings.
“We are in League A for a reason,” affirmed Ward, noting how they gained promotion for these World Cup qualifiers by beating Belgium over two legs last October.
“We’re coming up against the best teams in the world but we’ll embrace that because let’s be really honest – who gives us a chance outside of our own camp?”
Convoluted playoffs later in the year render these six group games secondary to Ireland’s quest of qualifying for a second World Cup on the spin, having reached Australia in 2023.
Any morsel of positivity Ireland accrue along the way is crucial to their wellbeing for the playoffs because they’re unlikely to face a team at the level of France or Netherlands in the playoff decider.
Veurink cited Ireland’s low block as the barrier France struggled to perforate on the opening night. A similar rearguard action is primed to neuter the Dutch dynamos, necessitating patience from their players and, importantly, fans.
“I do remember some tough games against Ireland but there's many ways to approach the game,” he said about their gameplan.
“We’ll try to play with a high ball tempo; let's say, switch the play quite a lot, from which spaces will hopefully open up for us.
“There’s a lot of creative players in our team and I definitely have confidence that if we are able to do that we'll generate some good chances to score.”
Vivianne Miedema is their standout threat. She’s a rare double centurion – holding the record of 104 goals in 131 caps.
And she’s still only 29. It’s 12 years since her hat-trick knocked Ireland out of the Euro U19 finals at the semi-final stage and she’s still prolific for her country and WSL leaders Manchester City.
Only for an ACL injury that wedged a 22-month gap between goals 95 and 96, she’d be closer to breaking the world record of 128 all-time goals held by German legend Birgit Prinz. She’ll be around for several more years and has Ireland to tick off as a nation to score against.
Star quality is in abundance across the Dutch team, Chelsea represented, as they were, in the French side. As ever with the Dutch, fusing the components into a unified force constitutes the elusive task.
Ireland will be missing one of their two world-class operators. Denise O’Sullivan looked a doubt when hobbling off the pitch on Tuesday but Ward is adamant she’ll be back for the double-header against Poland on April 14 and 18.
“I know what it is - there’s a problem with her MCL,” confessed Ward about the Corkwoman’s injury.
“That’s all I’ll say for now. She’s seeing a consultant in Liverpool at the moment and we’ll know more then. I don’t think (she’ll need surgery) and I’ve been told she’ll be back for Poland.”
A reshuffle is certain, with Jessie Stapleton the probable beneficiary.
Whatever team and tactics Ward opts for, her crew cannot be crushed from lacking the non-negotiable guts.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
