Away to Austria or Scotland on October 11th, take your pick.
“It’s a very tough draw,” admitted Republic of Ireland manager Vera Pauw ahead of the World Cup playoff against the winner of two nations ranked higher up the Fifa food chain, who meet at Hampden Park on October 6th.
Five days later Ireland must better Group A results in Helsinki and Gothenburg, with victory in Glasgow or Vienna, as the path to their first ever major tournament remains twisted and complicated.
There is some encouraging news, not much, but enough to maintain morale when the squad regathers next month to nail down qualification – ideally – without the drama of penalties or a detour to New Zealand.
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Unlucky to miss a home draw to reach a novel southern hemisphere World Cup next summer, it seems inevitable that Pauw’s charges will also need to win an inter-confederation playoff, most likely against Senegal, who are ranked 84th in the world, on February 23rd at Waikato stadium in Hamilton.
This will be confirmed by Switzerland beating the winners of Wales versus Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Iceland overcoming the winners of Portugal versus Belgium. However, if Ireland beat Austria or Scotland, and Portugal or Belgium beat Iceland, the Girls in Green advance directly to the World Cup.
So, the acid test comes in just over four weeks, at Hampden Park or the Wiener Neustadt stadium, in a satellite town south of the Austrian capital.
Ireland will not lie idle on October 6th as a high standard boys under-17s club from Dublin will provide live opposition, on the proviso that the teenagers do “not make nasty tackles”, in contrast to the Slovakians in Senec last Tuesday.
Scotland would be the preferred opponent as they are ranked 23rd by Fifa, just three places above Ireland, while Austria were competitive against England during qualification and against Germany, who knocked them out of the Euros at the quarter-final stage.
A Tuesday night under Tallaght lights would have been ideal, and Pauw is also counting the costs of last week’s 1-0 defeat of Finland as Super League midfielders Ruesha Littlejohn (Aston Villa) and Megan Connolly (Brighton) are ruled out through injury while Liverpool centre half Niamh Fahey is in a race against time.
Factor in Katie McCabe’s four incoming matches for Arsenal and Denise O’Sullivan having to play six times for North Carolina Courage, before her latest transatlantic odyssey, and fingers are being crossed ahead of the biggest match in the history of women’s football in Ireland.
Bar none.
“The load of the players is immense at the moment and it is our task to make sure that they are ready for the fight again,” said Pauw.
Another worry is Heather Payne being released by Florida State University, as the American collegiate system is outside Fifa jurisdiction, but Pauw is hopeful that the 22-year-old will be released without any fuss.
“Well, I hope the university will understand that this is a game of her life that they will not block her from joining Ireland at any stage.”
Pauw knows all about the potential opposition, having analysed Austria as a television pundit during the Euros, as well as working out of Hampden Park offices when she was Scotland manager 18 years ago.
“Austria are very difficult to beat. They are organised, they know their tasks. They are well connected, team work is their key pattern and they have a few players who can break lines with individual creativity. They are a very dangerous side.
“If Austria beats Scotland it will be huge task but if Scotland beats Austria it will show how strong Scotland is, and might even be a bigger challenge.”
Any team that can stop Austria’s goal machine Nicole Billa deserves to be favourites. The 1899 Hoffenheim poacher bagged 13 of Austria’s 50 goals as they finished second behind England in Group D, bringing her international tally to 43 in 82 appearances.
The alternative prospect is a momentous Scots-Irish encounter under Hampden lights.
World Cup playoffs – Uefa draw:
Round 1, October 6th
Scotland v Austria
Wales v Bosnia & Herzegovina
Portugal v Belgium
Round 2 – October 11th (seedings in brackets)
Portugal (7)/Belgium (5) v Iceland (2)
Scotland (6)/Austria (4) v Ireland (3)
Switzerland (1) v Wales (8)/Bosnia & Herzegovina (9)
The third-ranked qualifier, based on current seeding and result of second round playoff (when victory on penalties is counted as a draw and just one extra point), must win a one-off match against a non-European country in New Zealand in February to reach the World Cup.
