Nightmare draw leaves Eileen unfazed as she welcomes prospect of Aviva ties

EILEEN GLEESON has boldly declared that Ireland can qualify automatically to Euro 2025 – and she would love to use Aviva Stadium as the base for that bid.

The Girls in Green have been handed the toughest draw that any Irish team has landed in a qualification campaign, having been grouped with the countries ranked third, fourth and fifth in the world.

But despite being drawn against France, England and Sweden, Gleeson isn’t settling for the safety net of a play-off just yet.

“Well, we’re in the group, what else would we be doing?” Gleeson replied when asked if she was targeting first or second place in the group.

“Have we the players that can rise to the challenge? The short answer is ‘yes’. We have a great group of girls there. We’ve seen them developing.

“Ireland as a sporting nation always has the capacity to outperform.

“I can’t envisage the girls not stepping onto the pitch and trying their absolute (best) to win the games.

“We have to come into the group as a contender.

“We have to want to win the games and know the games that we need to win, so we’ll keep super motivated.

“But in terms of the girls, I’ve no doubt about their motivation. Their ability to rise to the challenge.

“We’ve seen them do it time and time again. And I think you’ll see them do it again for this campaign.”

Gleeson (inset) pointed to a saying that is regularly wheeled out inside the Irish dressing room.

“‘Be where your feet are’,” she said.

“We’re here in

League A so we act like we’re in

League A. That’s basically what it is.”

As for where they might play the games, Tallaght Stadium, with a capacity of around 11,000, is surely too small for the visit of England.

And already there are calls for the France and Sweden games to also be played at Aviva Stadium.

“Play them all in Lansdowne Road,” wrote Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin on X (formerly Twitter).

“This is what happens when you make progress.

“They went toe to toe with the best in the world in the World Cup so that’s where we are now.”

Last September Gleeson took charge of Ireland’s first women’s international at the venue, when just shy of 36,000 fans turned out for a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland.

The fixture schedule will be released by UEFA today, and Gleeson added: “We only have certain slots in the Aviva.

“The fixtures will be announced and then we can determine what slots are available for what games.

“They’re all super exciting and I’m sure the stadia will be packed out with support.

“We could do any of them at the Aviva.”