Sport

Ireland face daunting task against Brazil in opener

WOMEN'S UNDER-17 WORLD CUP Rep of Ireland v Brazil: THE REPUBLIC of Ireland women’s under-17 side make history tonight when …

Mon Sept 06 2010 - 01:00

WOMEN'S UNDER-17 WORLD CUP Rep of Ireland v Brazil:THE REPUBLIC of Ireland women's under-17 side make history tonight when they take on Brazil in the Fifa Women's Under-17 World Cup. It is the first appearance in the tournament for a women's team in the association's history and they will face the South American champions at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Trinidad, at 9pm.

Ireland face a tough task in their opener, facing a side who stormed to qualification, winning all six of their Conmebol Championship games, scoring 41 goals and conceding just three.

They concluded their campaign by thrashing Chile 7-0 in the final. The Brazilians will be looking to erase the memory of their disappointing 2008 World Cup in New Zealand when they surprisingly failed to advance past the group phase.

Noel King’s side go into the game in confident form following their successful training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where they played two games against World Cup finalists Trinidad and Tobago, and New Zealand. While the girls in green were defeated 3-0 by a tricky Trinidad and Tobago team, they bounced back in spectacular fashion by coming from behind against New Zealand to win 2-1.

READ MORE

Speaking ahead of the game, King said: “This is a very exciting time for everybody involved in Irish women’s football. It is the first ever Fifa Women’s World Cup appearance for an Irish women’s team at any level and to be facing a team of Brazil’s stature is what World Cups are all about.

“Obviously, Brazil have to be one of the favourites for this tournament. They have won every game in qualifying for this tournament so we will have to be at our very best if we are to challenge them in this group.

“As a team, we are taking every game as it comes – it would be an extraordinary outcome if we were to get a positive result against the South American champions.

“You just have to look back on our European Championship campaign; nobody gave us a chance to qualify for the Uefa finals let alone the Fifa World Cup but the team have shown tremendous resilience, skill and strength to come this far and I know that they will be eager to perform to the best of their abilities on this world stage,” he added.