The Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team which includes Thomastown’s Ellen Molloy takes on Iceland in the final game of an international friendly double header in Reykjavik on Tuesday evening (6 pm Irish time).
Vera Pauw’s narrowly lost 3-2 last Friday in Laugardalsvollur – against a team sitting 17 places above them in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings – and they will meet again in the same venue.
This game will act as the final warm-up before the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers kick off in September, where Ireland will be away to Georgia in their Group A opener.
There are no injury concerns within the Ireland squad ahead of the game.
Speaking ahead of the clash, Republic of Ireland Manager Vera Pauw said:
“I think we have to set something right with this game. The result of last week’s game is not a bad result, 3-2, especially when you consider that Iceland are ranked in between Denmark and Belgium, but we didn’t start well and that is something we know is not good enough.
“In the second half (of the first game), we had many chances…we counted 12 chances whereas Iceland only had six real chances. Young players are also knocking on the door, which is very good.
“We do appreciate that people will think that it is six games that we’ve lost but we see the growth in every single game and people around the country see it also. Of course everybody wants a win and we are going for that. The main thing in the back of our minds is that we need to qualify (for the World Cup).
“We will go for the win against Iceland, but overall we chose this opponent because we wanted to test ourselves and see what level our players are at. The more time that we get to work with the players the more we can see them progress, so we need to maintain that stability and move forward.”
SQUAD LIST
Republic of Ireland
Goalkeepers: Grace Moloney (Reading), Courtney Brosnan (Unattached), Eve Badana (DLR Waves)
Defenders: Keeva Keenan (Celtic), Claire O’Riordan (MSV Duisburg), Niamh Farrelly (Glasgow City), Louise Quinn (Fiorentina), Diane Caldwell (North Carolina Courage), Niamh Fahey (Liverpool), Claire Walsh (Peamount United), Éabha O’Mahony (Cork City), Áine O’Gorman (Peamount United)
Midfielders: Jamie Finn (Shelbourne), Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Megan Connolly (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ciara Grant (Shelbourne), Roma McLaughlin (Connecticut Fusion), Jessica Ziu (Shelbourne), Ellen Molloy (Wexford Youths), Katie McCabe (Arsenal)
Forwards: Heather Payne (Florida State University), Rianna Jarrett (Unattached), Amber Barrett (FC Koln), Saoirse Noonan (Shelbourne), Aoife Colvill (Glasgow City)
