Soccer

France v Ireland: Eileen Gleeson’s women aim to shock an expecting Metz crowd

Departing French manager Hervé Renard refuses to rule out vacant Irish men’s job

Republic of Ireland's Katie McCabe. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

Mary Hannigan
Thu Apr 4 2024 - 17:50

For a club that numbers among its distinguished alumni Franck Ribéry, Sadio Mané, Robert Pires, Emmanuel Adebayor, Louis Saha, Sylvain Wiltord and Miralem Pjanic, to name but a few, FC Metz hasn’t had a whole lot to celebrate over the years, their last trophy of note the Coupe de France in 1988.

This season has offered little relief, the team lying second from bottom of Ligue 1 and threatening to continue its habit of yo-yoing between France’s top two divisions. But any of their supporters who turn up at the Stade Municipal Saint-Symphorien on Friday evening will expect to witness what has been a rare enough sight at the ground this season: a home win. Metz have only managed two since August.

The task of denying them that pleasure falls to Eileen Gleeson’s Republic of Ireland who begin their efforts to qualify for Euro 2025 away to the world’s third-ranked side. A measure of the size of that task is that France haven’t lost a competitive game on home soil since the United States got the better of them in Paris in the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Cup.

But Gleeson was in typically upbeat form when she took her squad from their Luxembourg base to the 29,000 capacity stadium on the banks of the river Moselle on Thursday afternoon for their final training session before the game, the first of a daunting campaign that will also see them take on England and Sweden.

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“A win,” she laughed, like the question deserved no other answer. “We are coming here to compete and to try and win the game, that has to be the starting point. I know it’s a challenge given the quality of the opposition, but you can’t start way back because you will drop down further.”

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

Ireland's head coach Eileen Gleeson. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

She has a fully fit squad to select from, and no shortage of tricky decisions to make, both in terms of the formation she adopts and the personnel she chooses. If she opts for a safety first approach, she is likely to field five at the back, with Heather Payne to the right and Katie McCabe to the left of Louise Quinn, Caitlin Hayes and AN Other. With Niamh Fahey absent through injury, Gleeson must choose between the experience of Diane Caldwell and Aoife Mannion, the youth of Jessie Stapleton or the newness of Anna Patten to fill that gap.

Further forward, she has Denise O’Sullivan and Tyler Toland available again after they both missed the last international window through injury. “We missed them both in the last camp, it’s huge for us having them back. Sully is a real mainstay of the team since as long as we can remember, so to have her and her leadership qualities back is big for us, she’s a real influence over the team. And Tyler brings a nice steadiness and mature approach within the group as well.”

It is a formidable challenge for Gleeson herself too, never mind her players. Until last year’s Nations League campaign, she had never been a head coach at international level, in contrast to her opposite number Hervé Renard whose CV is of War and Peace proportions.

He’s had stints as manager of – deep breath – the men’s teams of Zambia (twice), Angola, Ivory Coast, Morocco and Saudi Arabia, as well as having spells with clubs in France, China, England, Vietnam and Algeria. Most famously, he was in charge of Saudi Arabia when they beat eventual champions Argentina in the group stages at the 2022 World Cup.

A view of training in Metz. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

He replaced the unloved Corinne Diacre as the French women’s manager in March of last year, but will step down from the position after this summer’s Olympic Games, his ambition to lead another men’s national team to the next World Cup. Need it be said, he has been linked with the Irish men’s job. Then again, who hasn’t?

“Monsieur Renard, have you heard from the FAI?” It was hard to interpret his beaming grin when the question was put to him. It might just have been that he anticipated it. Or that he has heard from the FAI. Or that he hasn’t. Or that he’s been promised a call. Such has been this saga, God knows.

“I’m only interested about tomorrow so far,” he said of the game against Ireland, the “so far” probably sending him to joint favourite in the betting. “I think every week people will find for me a new destination. I will say in English for our Irish visitors: I will never again respond about my future.”

That was the Irish hacks told, Renard preferring to talk up Friday’s opposition. “Ireland are a very good team, they have improved a lot, they will have confidence from playing in the World Cup. They have strong organisation, they are very efficient on set pieces, especially with [Katie] McCabe. We know everything about this team. We respect them. We have to remember they finished first in League B and won the right to be in League A. Tomorrow we have to be at 100 per cent to be able to win this game.”

Sitting alongside Renard was Lyon winger Delphine Cascarino (she’s worn out from clarifying down the years that no, she’s not related to Tony), and she produced a masterclass in diplomacy when asked about the Irish team’s “British identity”.

“They have a lot of players in the English league, but I think they have their own identity,” she said firmly. Maybe she’s Tony’s cousin after all.

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan is a sports writer with The Irish Times

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