Republic of Ireland defeated Georgia 3-0 at Tallaght Stadium on Tuesday night, bringing their playoff tally to 9-0 on aggregate to progress through to the final stage of EURO 2025 qualification. The Halfway Line had the chance to hear from Ireland head coach Eileen Gleeson, who gave her thoughts after the victory.
Giving her initial assessment, Gleeson expressed “I’m feeling good. There was a little bit of chaos out there, very tight spaces, a lot of enthusiasm to score goals which can lead to rushed decision making.
But overall I’m very happy with nine goals over the two games, clean sheets. No yellows tonight which has been a very big talking point at every single meeting that we had.”
Ireland set to face Wales in EURO 2025 playoff final
Republic of Ireland will face Wales in the two-leg playoff final as both sides eagerly seek to qualify for their first European Championship.
When asked how the preparations may differ heading into a ‘bigger’ challenge like Wales, Gleeson said “Every game is different and in these two games we knew we’d dominate possession. I think obviously Wales, higher ranked opposition and a similar profile to us in terms of players, key players and the levels that players play at. You have to approach the game slightly different and you pick your squad to maximise the performance against.”
It won’t be the first time that the two nations have met in 2024, after Ireland fell to a 2-0 defeat against Wales in an international friendly earlier in the year. When quizzed on the matter, Gleeson expressed “It’s good that we played Wales earlier in the year. I would go as far as to say the loss was a great learning moment, and its always about context. It was the second game of a window of two games, we had just played Italy, Staple [Jessie Stapleton] played in the six, with a bit of a lag. Players were missing, Denise [O’Sullivan] was missing.”
Gleeson concluded, “There’s a lot to learn from that game, obviously Wales are a solid strong team but we have lots to learn from that, but I think the squad is stronger.”
Gleeson praises young stars amidst selection headaches
Gleeson admitted that the young talent, including the likes of Abbie Larkin, Jessie Stapleton and Ellen Molloy are all providing her selection headaches.
She admitted, “They really are, and I love it. That’s what we want. Staple [Jessie Stapleton], she was solid tonight, good on the ball, smart, she can see the game. Then you have got Abbie, I thought Abbie was very good over the two games. Very good in tight spaces, very progressive with good early deliveries into the box.”
Gleeson moved on to speaking in glowing terms about Sheffield United’s Ellen Molloy, beaming “Then you saw young Ellen Molloy come on in the last ten minutes. Ellen is an exciting young player, leftie likes to dribble, creative, likes to work in those tight spaces as well. So they are definitely going to give the oldies a challenge and a run for their money and that’s what we want!”
Deriving the positives from the ‘huge experience’ of playing in League A
Gleeson extolled the virtues of having played top level opposition over the past year, as Ireland faced off with League A opponents during their UEFA Women’s Nations League campaign. She said, “As much as it was difficult, the draw for the EURO qualifiers also gave us great experience against top teams. Finding ways to keep clean sheets finding ways to test how often we can get up the pitch. I mean, that was a huge experience.”
Speaking on the playoff final that awaits Ireland on November 29 and December 3, emphasising the importance of playing at the AVIVA Stadium and the potential fairytale that awaits the nation. She said, “It is incredible and super exciting. It was so important to be seeded and have that home game, I mean what a night that will be. It is straight from here into full prep mode, a very quick turn around but to finish it off and qualify in the Aviva, it would be amazing.”
