Republic of Ireland v Albania
Tallaght Stadium, Friday 5.45pm – Live RTÉ2
The promise of goals – Katie McCabe “bangers”, no less – against minnows Albania should guarantee a full house at Tallaght Stadium.
The FAI have declared the return to the 8,000-capacity venue a sell-out after 35,944 attended the Aviva Stadium for the Northern Ireland victory last month. Take that proclamation with a pinch of salt as tickets remain available online and few parents are prepared to brave Friday rush-hour traffic, caused by television dictating a 5.45pm kick-off to allow the potential League of Ireland title decider between Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic to be broadcast live on RTÉ2 at 7.45pm.
A night of football on the couch then, unless a Ballon d’Or nominee can tempt fans to secure an early release from work and school. McCabe has barely broken stride since her tour-de-four against Canada in Perth last summer, scoring twice off either foot for Arsenal in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat of Megan Connolly’s Bristol City.
“Katie only scores bangers,” beamed Denise O’Sullivan, her long-serving partner in green. “In my opinion, she’s a world-class player. I’ve been playing with Katie now for several years and just to see how much she has improved and the journey that she has been on, I’m very proud of her.”
Having recently turned 28, McCabe has reached a level of consistent excellence for Arsenal never seen before by an Irish woman player. Or too many men. Quite simply, throughout 2023, the skipper has reached the peak of her considerable powers.
“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,” O’Sullivan continued. “I was speaking to Katie today and I was talking to her about the awards and all she could speak about was ‘I want to captain my country and that’s really all I care about right now, and playing Albania’. So she was fully focused on the game and 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.”
Albania are forewarned. Ireland’s men’s manager Stephen Kenny spoke recently about his team lacking the ruthless streak required to beat middle-tier sides such as Greece. No such concern exists when McCabe is hungry to add to her 22 international goals and O’Sullivan wants to keep in touch, having scored 20 in 107 caps.
It also helps that the return of Tyler Toland and Connolly to the midfield encourages the two world-class players to appear in the opposition box.
“Obviously it’s good to have Tyler in now, she’s a fantastic player,” added O’Sullivan. “She was back in and it was like she was never gone. She’s a class player. For her to get on the ball and look for me in those spaces is great. Of course we all have more to learn and Tyler has a lot more to learn as well, but it’s about being an example for her and helping her on and off the pitch as well. I think that’s very important.”
[ Katie McCabe on top form again with two goals for Arsenal in WSLOpens in new window ]
The wonder is how and why the FAI allowed such a rare talent to be omitted from the Irish squads, even underage, for three years. The recent past has been shelved by this group, mainly because they know promotion from Nations League B to A can be secured by beating Albania tonight and again in Shkodër on Tuesday.
“As an Irish team, over the past few years we have always been defensively organised,” said O’Sullivan. “With the new staff we are trying to be more creative, we are trying to be better in transition, so I think Eileen [Gleeson] and the staff are doing a really good job of adding that in. Over the next few games we can keep improving, keep getting better at it.”
As top seeds in the European second tier, winning this Nations League group is an achievable goal under interim manager Gleeson, who could be inadvertently coaching her way into the job on a permanent basis.
To wrap up Group 1 on Halloween night would allow the FAI to plan for a potentially profitable 2024. The men’s side of the house are staring into nine months of friendlies before their Nations League fixtures return next September. Promotion invites a return to the Aviva for two competitive internationals against England, Spain, Germany, France or the Netherlands.
More importantly, there is a clear pathway into the 2025 European Championships in Switzerland by finishing first or second in next year’s group. Third or fourth in Nations League A go into a semi-final and final tournament play-off system to secure Ireland’s place at a second successive big tournament.
“That’s all we are thinking about. The Nations League is massively important for that, to be able to qualify for the Euros. Our focus is to get as many wins as we can to be ranked the highest.”
Veteran defender Diane Caldwell is one cap shy of 100 while Sinead Farrelly’s return to the squad could see Abbie Larkin and Lucy Quinn held in reserve, but all four players are likely to feature.
IRELAND (possible): Brosnan (Everton); Hayes (Celtic), Quinn (Birmingham City), Campbell (Everton); Payne (Everton), Toland (Blackburn Rovers), Farrelly (NJ/NY Gotham), Connolly (Bristol City), McCabe (Arsenal); O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage); Carusa (San Diego Wave).
