Eileen Gleeson urged her Republic of Ireland team to build on their impressive defeat of France as she toasted the best night of her reign to date.
Herve Renard's French side had already wrapped up direct qualification for Euro 2025 and made 11 changes ot their team for the trip to Cork. But this was still a commendable performance from the Girls in Green at a raucous Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Goals from Denise O'Sullivan, Julie-Ann Russell and Anna Patten earned a 3-1 victory that guarantees Ireland will be seeded for both the play-off semi-final and the final, should they get there. They had been in a direct fight for seeding with Poland, who lost 1-0 to Iceland in their last qualifier.
Ireland had been beaten in all five of their previous five qualifiers, and only scored one goal. However a pacey attacking pair of Leanne Kiernan and Russell gave them a different dimension. Now, Gleeson wants to make sure they maintain momentum with sights firmly set on reaching another major tournament.
"I'll be lying down for the next two days and then we go again!" she laughed.
"We've been realistic about the level of opposition we’re playing against. We knew we’d have few chances in these games. But tonight, of course it’s a sign of the progress and that we can be up there.
"What was super important for us was to get the seeded place. We’ve always talked about qualifying for Euro 2025 and that pathway. We were always, always talking about that. We’re waiting to see what the next step of that pathway is. We’re looking forward to the draw (which takes place on Friday)."
🇮🇪 3-1 🇫🇷
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 16, 2024
"I'm so proud of the girls. Their work-rate was fantastic. What a result" - Ireland manager Eileen Gleeson delighted as Ireland confirm seeding for the Women's Euro 2025 play-offs with a notable scalp#WEURO2025 pic.twitter.com/jlk17fFJv3
Ireland certainly looked much more balanced than they have in previous games. Gleeson's selection gave the side more mobility, pace and - in the shape of O'Sullivan and the excellent Jess Ziu - guile in the middle of the park.
All in all it was a very good night at the office - an encouraging end to a challenging campaign.
"It's been a progression and a pathway from the start of the group," added Gleeson as she reflected on going up against England, France and Sweden - three of the world's top six-ranked teams.
"We knew, obviously, that the group was going to be super difficult with the draw that we got. We spoke about this in our team meeting. Obviously we're getting a lot of comments around, 'we didn’t create chances', 'we’re defensive’. We’re playing against the best teams in the world and we need to learn how to manage that and how to deal with that.
"I think, as the campaign has gone on, starting with France, ending with France. We were deep and absorbing a lot of pressure in the first game against France, working really well without the ball. Then we tried to move up the pitch, we saw that against Sweden at home and England last week.
"We had much better phases in possession, created a lot more chances, better in transition. Tonight we finished the chances off. It’s a good progression and we want to keep that moving forward."
And what about the Cork factor?
Over 18,000 fans turned up at the Páirc to create a cracking atmosphere. The players lapped up their adulation after the final whistle as the feelgood vibes went into overdrive. After All by The Frank and Walters bled into Kabin Crew's frantically catchy Found My Spark before the whole ground burst into Ole, Ole, Ole.
It will surely not be the last time the Girls in Green head to Leeside.
"I'll tell you what, we’ve had the best time in Cork," said Gleeson. (We’ll be back) for sure. We’ve had it since the first moment we arrived in reception. The hotel, the stadium, everyone across the city.
"When we drove in here tonight it was a really proud moment for us. People were chasing the bus, clapping, the kids… it was fantastic. We really felt that support, we heard everybody here tonight. It really did make a difference so why not (come back)?"
