With the 6-0 win over Georgia Women on Friday 25th October, in their 1st leg Euro qualifiers clash, the Ireland Women are almost guaranteed to play in the Euro 2025 qualifiers play-offs for a chance to play in the 2025 UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, set to be played in Switzerland.
On Friday night our Gunner utility player, Katie McCabe, ran the show, scoring a brace and assisting another 2 goals. Over the last few years, the 27-year-old has made it her mission to “carry” her national team into top competitions like the World Cup.
While the Girls in Green, the Ireland women’s team, enjoy greater recognition, their task is to ensure Georgia doesn’t mount a comeback in the next fixture. Realistically, I doubt they will. Therefore, Ireland could go to that match against Georgia in Tallaght on Tuesday night for formality with an aim for a respectable result.If the Girls in Green advance as anticipated, they will face either Slovakia or Wales in the play-off final to secure their spot in the 2025 Euros.
With a 6-goal lead in this fixture, one might imagine that the Ireland technical bench will use that game for squad rotation; perhaps they will rest players like McCabe to give some of their underused squad members experience. Eileen Gleeson acknowledged that this would indeed be the case.
Gleeson stated, “It is a good opportunity for us to see those players, and [I was] encouraged with what I saw tonight from those players.
“I don’t think we’ll relax. We’ll aim to definitely not be complacent and make sure we do a good job on Tuesday, but it opens up opportunities for some of the younger players that we’ve brought in to maybe get them some minutes.
“The aim is to win the game again on Tuesday with a good performance, but it does open up opportunities to see some of the younger, less experienced players and give them some experience.”
From these comments, I can’t help but feel that we may, on Tuesday, see a completely different Ireland line-up to the one that started in Tbilisi; hopefully Katie McCabe, who’s done her part in this fixture, is one of the players rested.
It would be a massive boost if Katie rested to return fresh and recharged next weekend when Arsenal and Manchester United women go head-to-head in their WSL clash.
What are your thoughts Gooners?
Michelle M
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