Confident Kuper sets semi-final target for Ireland

WOMEN'S HOCKEY/European Nations Championship: The preparations are complete, 18 months after the European Hockey Federation awarded the hosting of the seventh European Nations Championship to Ireland the tournament will get under way on Sunday at Belfield when Olympic champions Germany open the event with their Pool B game against Scotland.

Next up will be England's first game, against Ukraine, followed by a repeat of the 2003 final between Holland and Spain. And then Ireland will take their bow against France at 5.45 (live on RTÉ Two - as all Ireland's games will be).

The work put in by the Irish Hockey Association and its chief executive Paul Varian in the build-up to the event has been impressive, notably its advertising campaign for the tournament and its success in attracting a clutch of sponsors, including the ESB, Tesco and Failte Ireland.

If significant progress has been made off-the-field Riet Kuper believes it can be matched by her team on-the-field over the next week. Ireland are ranked behind four of the eight competing teams in Dublin - Holland, Germany, England and Spain, the top four in the 2003 finals - but the Irish coach has set her side a goal that has never before been reached by an Irish team in this event: a place in the semi-finals.

"It's not often that I've set such a target," she said, "but I believe this team has the qualities to do it. Our minimum aim is a top six finish, which would keep us in the A division of the Championships (and would also win a place in next April's World Cup Qualifier in Rome), but there has been a significant improvement in the team and it is full of confidence, so I believe we are capable of achieving a place in the top four." It is an ambitious target for a team that has never finished higher than fifth in the Europeans - and that was 21 years ago - and came sixth in 2003 in Barcelona. To achieve the goal Ireland must finish in the top two in their pool, which consists of defending champions Holland, going for their fourth successive gold, Spain and France.

Holland should comfortably top pool A while not finishing ahead of France is simply unthinkable for Ireland - that, then, leaves Spain as the team most likely to stand between the hosts and a place in Friday's semi-finals.

Since taking European silver two years ago Spain, busy rebuilding, have struggled, finishing last in July's Champions Challenge in the United States and losing 3-0, 4-0 and 4-1 to Holland in recent warm-up games. They do, though, have the habit of getting the better of Ireland in competitive meetings, a habit Kuper's side will attempt to break when the teams meet on Tuesday.

But that top four ambition will all but evaporate if the French aren't beaten on Sunday, as they were in the Celtic Cup last month (3-1). Excluding a 1-0 defeat at the 2001 World Cup Qualifier, Ireland's first loss to France in 10 years, Kuper's side have generally won their encounters with the French, although rarely comfortably. They would settle for a win of any nature on Sunday, just to kick off their tournament with three points.

Ireland are well prepared, having played 15 official internationals in Korea, Germany, Scotland and Dublin since May. With an average age of 25 and all but three of the players with 20 caps or more to their name there's plenty of experience in the squad, the core of which is made up by Jenny Burke, playing in her final tournament, captain Lynsey McVicker, who may also retire after the event, Linda Caulfield, Jill Orbinson and Ciara O'Brien, who have almost 600 caps between them.

It will be Kuper's ninth major tournament in charge of the team since her appointment as coach in 1998 and if home advantage can inspire them to a top four finish it will, by some distance, be their finest hour under her reign.

Germany and England will expect to advance from Pool B to the semi-finals but both will be wary of Ukraine (fifth two years ago in Barcelona, where their defending was often as woeful as their attacking was wondrous), still captained by Tetyana Kobzenko, still one of world hockey's most gifted players.

The opening ceremony for the tournament takes place at the Moyne Institute, Trinity College, at 5.30 tomorrow.

EUROPEAN NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP

(at Belfield )

Pool B: England (8), Germany (5), Ukraine (14), Scotland (17). Pool A: Holland (1), Spain (10), Ireland (13), France (19). World rankings in brackets.

SCHEDULE:

SUNDAY - Pool B: Germany v Scotland, 11.45; England v Ukraine, 1.45. Pool A: Holland v Spain, 3.45; Ireland v France, 5.45. MONDAY - Pool B: Scotland v England, 4.0; Germany v Ukraine, 6.0. TUESDAY - Pool A: Holland v France, 5.0; Ireland v Spain, 7.0. WEDNESDAY - Pool B: Scotland v Ukraine, 1.0; England v Germany, 3.0. Pool A: Spain v France, 5.0; Holland v Ireland, 7.0. THURSDAY - Rest Day. FRIDAY: Cross-overs. SATURDAY - Final placings play-offs: Seventh-eighth, 10.0; Fifth-sixth, 12.30; Third-fourth, 3.0; The Final, 5.30.

PREVIOUS EUROPEAN FINALS

2003 (Barcelona): 1 Holland, 2 Spain, 3 Germany (6 Ireland).

1999 (Cologne): 1 Holland, 2 Germany, 3 England (9 Ireland).

1995 (Amstelveen): 1 Holland, 2 Spain, 3 Germany (8 Ireland).

1991 (Brussels): 1 England, 2 Germany, 3 Russia (8 Ireland).

1987 (London): 1 Holland, 2 England, 3 USSR (7 Ireland).

1984 (Lille): 1 Holland, 2 USSR, 3 Germany (5 Ireland).

IRISH SQUAD

Player Club Caps Age

Jenny Burke Hermes 154 31

Lynsey McVicker Ballymoney 146 31

Linda Caulfield Hermes 108 26

Jill Orbinson Pegasus 95 26

Ciara O'Brien Railway Union 78 26

Eimear Cregan Univ of Limerick 64 23

Angela Platt (GK) Ballymoney 53 26

Katharine Maybin Pegasus 50 25

Jenny McDonough Belfast Harlequins 49 24

Caitriona Carey Hermes 47 27

Bridget McKeever Ballymoney 38 22

Fiona Connery Hermes 32 28

Cathy McKean Loreto 33 26

Nikki Symmons Loreto 27 22

Deirdre Casey Church of Ireland 24 22

Clare Parkhill Randalstown 13 24

Emma Stewart Armagh 10 17

Mary Goode (GK) Pembroke Wanderers 5 26