Megan Connolly and Ireland stare down Kyiv ghost

The ghost of Kyiv, inevitably, reappears this week. That 1-0 defeat to Ukraine in October 2020 denied Ireland a chance to compete at the Euros in England, sucking the air out of a giant balloon.

Typically, Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Megan Connolly embraces the enormity of Thursday’s World Cup qualifier against Finland at a sold-out Tallaght stadium. Victory secures a play-off to reach the 2023 tournament in Australia and New Zealand while a draw or defeat puts the onus on getting a result in Slovakia next Tuesday.

So they have been here before, only to fail when O’Gorman’s calamitous own goal rolled beyond Courtney Brosnan.

“There wasn’t the same level of hype around it, but I think we were a different kind of team back then,” Connolly opined. “You can the see the games we’ve played, the results we’ve had, the campaign we’ve had, from the inside you can see the development we’ve had.”

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Brosnan, the New Jersey born number one, is the best example of a player who has taken her game to the level required to avoid such needless error. For every mention of Kyiv she can slap back with her Gothenburg heroics.

“The slow but good process we’ve had and the step-up we’ve had, that’s why we are in this position. Obviously players involved in that game know the hurt that comes after it, when you’re so close but just don’t do it. That will play a part: we know that feeling, everyone has had it in their career, [being] so close to something and you don’t achieve it, but it’s important on Thursday that we don’t get too caught up in emotions, it’s just a game of football, 11 v 11, and prepare as best we can.”

Slow but good progress that must be accelerated over 90 minutes.

“It’s a big game for us as a team, as a nation,” continued Connolly. “There’s a lot of hype around it. If we win, we qualify for play-offs, but for us, we don’t want to get too caught up in the emotions.

“Obviously Finland are playing for the same, they’re a point below us, they want to win. We just need to show up and do our best.”

The Finns apparently land in Dublin in complete disarray, or they could present as a cornered animal. Despite losing Adelina Engman and Emmi Alanen to injury and slipping to 29th in the Fifa rankings, three behind Ireland, following a calamitous summer, the Helmarit remain a highly competent outfit.

Marko Saloranta was parachuted in as head coach when Anna Signeuel was sacked in July after defeats to Spain, Denmark and Germany left them bottom of their Euros pool. There was also a serious allegation levelled at Signeuel by her former assistant Maiju Ruotsalainen over the Swedish coach’s critical reaction to Ruotsalainen’s pregnancy.

“When I announced that I am pregnant,” she revealed, “it was wondered why I didn’t schedule these things better as I am in a relationship with a woman.”

That Signeuel also insisted on English being the “team language” – as she does not speak fluent Finnish – indicated that both group and coach were ready to separate.

Thursday will tell as an ageing Finland squad seek a one-off performance, which they firmly believe is possible as there was collective shock in Helsinki after Connolly’s curling free kick set Ireland on course for a famous victory 11 months ago.

“Finland started well and it was one of those ones where we wanted to get our foot in the game and it was one of those ones you practice a lot and it just happens,” explained Connolly.

It was one of those ones everyone present will never forget.

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“But it is in the history books, it’s going to have no bearing on the result on Thursday. We’ll learned a lot from the game, [but] so will Finland.

“There’s no doubting the quality of Finland. They were at the Euros, we weren’t. They qualified for it, they got there, they experienced that. You can look at it and say, ‘Yeah, they didn’t win their games,’ but they have that big tournament experience. We don’t have that yet.

“For us, we just need to do every single bit of homework and preparation for Thursday, and learn from the Finland game, what we can do better, and prepare as best as we can.”