Ziu glad to be back in Irish shirt after long absence
THE smile on Jess Ziu’s face said it all. Friday night had been a long time coming for the Dubliner. It had been 17 months since she had last worn the green jersey. But in the impressive scoreless draw with Italy, it was like the West Ham star had never been away as she energetically prowled the right flank. ‘It has been a long 17 months, but it is good to be back,’ the 21year-old told the press following Friday’s friendly. ‘To be fair, it doesn’t feel like 17 months when I came back in. ‘But I am not going to lie, it was a bit overwhelming before the game and there were a few nerves leading up to it. Luckily, there are a few girls I am quite close with, Izzy [Atkinson], Larko [Abbie Larkin], and they kind of helped me.’ Ziu had just began to make an impression with WSL club West Ham when she ruptured her ACL, the knee injury that has become a curse on the women’s game. For the Finglas native, it put paid to her dreams of representing Ireland at the World Cup, which was the toughest part of her rehabilitation. ‘Yeah, I was gutted, I think that was the hardest part, watching from the stands.’ There are a few new faces, as well as a new management team, since Ziu’s last appearance for Ireland, but the winger is determined to make her mark among the squad, ahead of the upcoming Nations League A campaign. ‘It feels the same, I like the way Eileen is playing new systems, we’re all adapting to it, there is still more gelling to do because there are new faces but we just played a team that are ten places ahead of us in the rankings and I thought we stuck it to them, away too, which is quite good.’