And it’s like she never left
O’Gorman on her return and Thursday’s crunch Euro tie
IT WAS the big news coming out Vera Pauw’s unveiling of her Ireland women’s national team for an upcoming pair of qualifiers for the 2021 European Championships against Greece and Montenegro. Almost two years on from stepping away from the international fold, Áine O’Gorman was making her return.
It was a remarkable U-turn from the Peamount United stalwart, who retired from international duty in September 2018, three months after earning her 100th cap in a 1-0 defeat to Norway in June that spelled the end of Ireland’s quest for qualification for the 2019 World Cup.
‘Every time that I’ve pulled on the Ireland jersey, it has been a moment of incredible honour for both my family and I. But now, I feel it is time to step aside and let the next generation make their mark,’ she said at that time, in a letter penned to supporters.
Her retirement came 12 years after her first appearance for the national team, under the guidance of then-manager Noel King. Since that game against Denmark in the 2006 Algarve Cup, Áine went on to cement herself within eachand-every camp that followed. A century of caps and 13 goals later, and Áine was bowing out with the captain’s armband proudly wrapped around her bicep.
While she will be making a comeback to the team 18 months after initially leaving it all behind, she does not regret the decision that she made. Instead, she views it as being a valuable break from a commitment out of which she struggled to find enjoyment, at times. However, now that she is back, the 30-year-old is not here to make up the numbers; she will be fighting for a place in the team, just like everybody else.
‘I think it feels like I have never left, and I’ve just kind of slotted back in and enjoying training and enjoying being back in camp,’ she told the Wicklow People. ‘I think that everyone is very positive. It is a really good set-up and everyone is just looking forward to the game. I think it has been great and we’re just looking forward to doing the business on Thursday night [vs Greece].
‘It is a great squad; it is probably one of the best squads todate that I have been involved in. There is quality throughout. They’ll be fighting for eachand-every place, which is exactly what you want. I am obviously going to train hard day-in, day-out and try to get my place in the starting XI. There are no guarantees and I think that everyone has to work hard in their position.’
Initially hanging up the green jersey was not a move that O’Gorman took lightly. She was leaving behind a set of players with whom she had played for 12 years of her life, first breaking into the set-up at 16-years-old. In her aforementioned open letter, she mentioned past-managers Noel King, Sue Ronan, and Colin Bell. She paid tributes to Olivia O’Toole, Ciara Grant, and Yvonne Tracey as players that welcomed her into the fold from the first day, as well as Stephanie Roche, whom she thanked for being ‘a fantastic best friend and room-mate, and for putting up with me.’
‘Obviously, it was something that I had been thinking about for a while,’ she said. ‘I think that I probably wasn’t enjoying my international football in the way that I probably should have been. I think that it was a good time to step back and let the young players come through. I had been playing for a very long time; I had been playing for 12 years, and there were massive commitment levels.’
Those young players that she mentions include the likes of Rianna Jarrett, a player that has gone from-strength-tostrength since overcoming knee ligament injuries and being recalled by then-manager Colin Bell for that fateful game against Norway. Since then, the 25-year-old has moved on to Brighton & Albion in the Women’s Super League, for whom she scored her first goals with a brace against Crystal Palace at the end of February. Jarrett is one player, among many others, who O’Gorman credited as a star of the current crop.
‘I think that Rianna Jarrett is one player who has really blossomed over the last couple of years, now that she has gotten over her injuries, and I am delighted for how she has moved over to Brighton and scored her first goals this week, as well.
‘There are great young players coming through. We were watching the under-17s play a game yesterday out on the back pitches and it was great to watch.’
The process through which Áine went about making her return came down to simple phone call from Vera Pauw to O’Gorman. The Wicklow-native had never truly turned her back on pulling on the national colours.
Her time away gave her the opportunity to recharge her batteries. She won the domestic league title with Peamount in 2019 – the club’s first league title since 2011/12 – and spent time as a pundit for RTÉ, a role that meant the she was never too far away from the action. For O’Gorman, the time had come for her to pull on the green jersey and help the team get to next summer’s European Championships.
‘I had a conversation with Vera before. The door was kind of left open, and obviously, there were a few injuries coming into the camp, so I got a call then and it was something that I was never going to turn down. I grabbed the opportunity to get back into the team with two hands. I would have massively regretted it if I didn’t.
‘She just said that she wanted me to be back in the squad. Obviously, I have a lot of experience so I am just here to help the team whatever way I can. I am here now, and I am kind of an all-in person, so I am going to try and get into all of the squads going forward, and hopefully we’ll be on the way to qualifying for Euro 2021.’
The buzz around Áine O’Gorman’s return to the Ireland women’s national team will last up until Thursday night, when Greece come to Tallaght Stadium for a vital Euro 2021 qualifier. Over 5,000 people will walk through the turnstiles to watch Vera Pauw’s team go for a third win in four games.
A win would see them keep pressure with Germany at the top of the pool, while extending the gap to Greece to six points. However, to hear O’Gorman say it, revenge will be on the minds of her teammates, after they could only draw in Greece back in November.
‘It is a must-win game, especially on the back of the result away in Greece in the way that we conceded late.
‘It was a little bit of a sucker punch. I think that it is time to put that right.’