Lisa Fallon: Crucial World Cup qualifier can be a defining day for Irish women’s football

This week, I write once again from Costa Rica on semi-final day of the Fifa Under-20 Women’s World Cup, where Spain will play the Netherlands and Brazil will face Japan for a place in Sunday’s final.

Having already waxed lyrical about the very high standard in competition here, and the importance of this tournament in terms of player development, it is impossible not to acknowledge the seismic game that takes place in a sold-out Tallaght Stadium next Thursday for the Republic of Ireland women’s national team.

This crucial World Cup qualifier has the potential to be a defining day in the journey of this current squad. A win against Finland will secure second place in the group and will guarantee a playoff place for one of those coveted 32 spots for New Zealand and Australia next summer.

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The permutations are simple, Sweden have already qualified as Group A winners, while Ireland (second on 11 points) and Finland (third on 10 points) are the only two teams in the group that have any chance of claiming the playoff berth, with both having two games remaining.

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After next Thursday’s head-to-head in Dublin, Vera Pauw’s side must travel to play Slovakia in their final group game, while Finland will host Sweden in their last outing.

A draw against Finland and win against Slovakia would also suffice, but having beaten Finland 2-1 in the reverse fixture, the Irish players and staff should go into next week’s game confident of being able to seal second place, at home in front of what will be a loud and proud Green Army.

However, it should not be taken for granted that Ireland will win this game against Finland. This will be an extremely hard-fought encounter against a team that perhaps slightly underestimated Ireland last October in Helsinki. It was evident on the day that Pauw’s charges took them a little by surprise. That surprise factor won’t apply this time and the Finns will come prepared.

They will also come with a new manager in place which makes this an even trickier tie because Ireland do not know exactly what to expect. Going into games like this one, you can prepare in great detail based on how the opposition plays and what they do on set pieces, based on their previous matches.

While teams make some tweaks game to game, generally managers have defining principles which are consistent and identifiable in how their team’s play. Finland lost all three group games in Euro 2022, but it must be acknowledged that they were in an extremely difficult pool which included tournament runners-up Germany, pre-tournament favourites Spain and Denmark.

However, despite being contracted until the end of this year, the football federation decided to end Anna Signeul’s contract last month and have placed national Under-17 manager, Marko Saloranta in charge for the two remaining games of this campaign.

Indications that there will be changes in how Finland approach this game tactically, are already evident with four debutants named in the squad of 25 for the game in Tallaght.

Two of those debutants are the exciting 21-year-old twin-sister pairing of Emmi and Oona Siren. Both players are midfielders, playing for the same club and have 11 goals between them in the first 17 games of the domestic league in Finland, with eight of those scored by Emmi.

There is much talk and expectation of these two and it’s no surprise they’ve been called up, in addition to 22-year-old midfielder Emma Peuhkurinen. Interestingly, these three are the midfield trio at KuPs, the club that are dominating the Kansallinen Liga in Finland, winning 16 of their 17 games so far, scoring 80 goals and conceding just nine.

It’s also noteworthy that the majority of the Finland squad play in the Swedish and Finnish leagues and they are currently in-season, so all players are match fit, while for Ireland, their WSL and Frauen Bundesliga contingent are only in preseason.

For Pauw and her team, though, it is all about Ireland imposing their strengths on this game and digging into the cohesion and structure that is now established in this team. In Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan, Ireland have world-class players and this Irish side has a really fine blend of youth and experience.

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There are players with different attributes in the squad now that can bring alternative challenges to opposition defences and there is genuine depth in the panel now. It can be argued that this is the best Irish squad that we’ve ever had.

This team has the best resources available to them of any generation of Irish players and with the depth in talent and personality now assembled, there is fair cause for the belief that they can be ones to take Ireland to the Holy Grail of a major tournament.

Pauw announces her squad today, and she’ll face into a weekend of novenas, praying for the safe and injury-free delivery of all players who are involved in league and friendly games over the next few days.

Next Thursday is a pressure game, and there are some nuances around this fixture that need to be factored in however, one being that in the latest world rankings Ireland are 26th, their highest ranking ever and three places ahead of 29th-ranked Finland.

Pauw’s team must embrace the favourite’s tag for this game and impose their game on Finland, whilst respecting what their opponent can bring. It’s time for these girls to take the baton and drive on to the next level because they have what it takes.