Although on paper both games looked like very tough fixtures, the Northern Ireland women approached the games with confidence and returned home from Croatia with an excellent 1-0 victory and three points. National Women’s Coach Alfie Wylie was delighted with the performance his team displayed.
He said “The girls were fantastic. For a Northern Ireland team ranked 69thin the world by FIFA to travel to Croatia who are ranked 48thand win is a tremendous achievement. The game was played on a very big pitch with a lot of rain making conditions much more difficult, but the girls have really improved their fitness levels in recent years and this undoubtedly helped us to get the result we wanted.”
This game was only a warm up for the real test which was to come five days later when Iceland came to the Oval, Belfast. The Icelandic Women, ranked 17thby FIFA, boasted a squad that is full of professional players who ply their trade across the world in the highly regarded Swedish league and also in the USA. In a tightly contested game it was the visiting side which ultimately came out on top with one piece of world class finishing to win 1-0.
However Alfie had nothing but praise for the girls – “We came out of this game with a lot of positives even though we lost 1-0. Many people were not giving us much of a chance against a team that has 11 professional players, but to feel disappointed that we did not get at least a point is a credit to the players and the backroom staff. We were very organised and kept our shape throughout which we could see was frustrating the Iceland team.
?Emma Higgins, our keeper, was outstanding all evening and was only beaten with 10 minutes to go by a great cross and finish that Maik Taylor would have struggled to keep out. I know that the Iceland coach was delighted to get the three points because we had a great chance in the first half and hit the bar in the second. Now we have to take these performances and build on them for the rest of the campaign next year.”
Although the women’s domestic season ended in Northern Ireland in September, the hard work is continuing for the squad over the winter months. Alfie continued “The women are still meeting up at the University of Ulster at Jordanstown for strength and conditioning work, and in the New Year we will be having regular training sessions leading up to a possible friendly in February.
We are very grateful to have the support of the UUJ staff and use their facilities as the base for the Excellence Centre for the Senior Women?s Team, which has focused the players’ attention on developing their game and therefore improving their performances.The girls have now raised the bar for themselves in the last few games, and with the recent introduction of sports science techniques in our training and the use of a sports psychologist in the build-up to matches, we should be able to maintain this level of performance.
When combining this with the hard work that the schools, clubs and the IFA have been doing to develop girls? football in Northern Ireland, and the fact that the squad is the youngest in the competition with many of the girls aged under 20 years old, the future for our women’s national team is certainly looking very bright.”
By Graeme Beggs
