Soccer

Denise O’Sullivan on facing France: ‘We are not here to make up the numbers’

Midfielder is back after missing previous games with injury and is relishing challenge of facing ‘world-class’ French

Ireland's Denise O’Sullivan. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

Mary Hannigan
Thu Apr 4 2024 - 23:00

Denise O’Sullivan felt like she was back in Albania again when she and her team-mates made their way by coach through rain of biblical proportions en route from their Luxembourg base to Metz for training on Thursday afternoon. “I was like, ‘here we go again’,” she said, the deluge calling to mind that night in Shkodër back in October, when the Cork woman somehow managed to scramble home a winner through the puddles in the 88th minute.

Mercifully, the pitch at the Stade Municipal Saint-Symphorien seems to have coped admirably with it all, if not the sodden streets of Metz that took on a bit of a Venetian look under the downpours.

Whether or not the elements have dampened the locals’ enthusiasm for the game, who knows, but as of Thursday evening a crowd of just 18,000 was being forecast, meaning about 10,000 seats in the stadium would be left empty. The hope is that the bulk of them will be filled by last-minuters.

There was a note of indifference too from the French media when national coach Hervé Renard arrived for his press conference at the ground on Thursday, their numbers at least matched by the visiting Irish crew. That lack of interest might be hard to comprehend, this being such a richly talented French side, but – and it’s a big one – they’ve thus far failed hopelessly to realise their potential.

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And Ireland’s hopes of taking something from this game, the opener in their Euro 2025 qualifying campaign, might just rest on the French having another day when their individual brilliance fails to add up to the sum of its parts.

They gave a glimpse of their quality when they beat Ireland 3-0 in Tallaght last summer ahead of the World Cup, and while O’Sullivan insists not too much should be read in to that result – “a lot has changed since then” – it gave her a close-up view of just how gifted the French are.

“They are world class. They’re absolutely amazing. They’re fast, they’re strong, they’re athletic, and they have the technical ability as well. We know we have a massive task on our hands against them, but we’re not here to just make up the numbers. We’re here to compete.”

[ France v Ireland: TV details, kick-off time, team news and more ]

That echoed O’Sullivan’s response on the tweet machine to the draw for the group. When all around her when trembling after Ireland were placed in a group with England, France and Sweden, three of the world’s top six ranked nations, she was relishing the challenge. “We want to be here, now we are. Let’s have it,” she posted.

“And as an athlete, as a professional, you want to be playing against the top teams in the world – and now we have that opportunity we need to take it with both hands and give it everything.”

“The past few years, this team has come on in leaps and bounds. We have that experience from the World Cup, we went through the Nations League and did well. This is another level from that. But we have to be realistic about how we approach these games. We still need to be defensively organised, hard to beat, but I don’t think we’ll change the way we play.”

There’s the comfort blanket of a Euro 2025 qualifying play-off even if Ireland finish bottom of this group, but O’Sullivan says that’s “not even in the back of my mind”.

“The mindset going into this is to do well in these games. Every game is going to be a final for us. It’s a massive task. I haven’t thought about the play-offs. We’re not here to make up the numbers, we’re here to do well and compete against these teams.”

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan is a sports writer with The Irish Times

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