THERE’S NO SAFETY METZ

O’Sullivan relishing challenge

DENISE O’SULLIVAN has warned France that Ireland aren’t Metz-ing when it comes to their Euro 2025 ambitions.

And there will be no inferiority complex when they take to the Stade Saint-Symphorien in front of an 18,000-strong crowd, with the vast majority banking on a comfortable home win.

O’Sullivan, capped 109-times, is back in the squad after missing the February friendlies against Italy and Wales.

And she is eager to add another major tournament appearance to her CV, after her performances at last year’s World Cup in Australia.

It’s that experience that O’Sullivan and her teammates will hope to draw upon tonight, along with a handful of other big performances when they confounded expectations.

Regularly cited this week, ahead of the toughest qualification campaign that an Irish side has ever faced, have been draws away to the Netherlands in 2017 and Sweden two years ago.

Having landed in the same group as three of the top-six ranked teams in the world — France, England and Sweden — reminders of such performances can do no harm.

And they have given O’Sullivan the confidence to declare: “We’re not here to just make up the numbers, we’re here to compete and we’re here to go far, and we’re really looking forward to it.”

She added: “Those games give us massive confidence. We were able to be under that much pressure and not concede, holding Netherlands to a draw.

“We scored against Sweden too and know we can do that again.” right)

Of course, a sense of realism also sets in when discussing the task at hand.

While Eileen Gleeson says the target is a win, O’Sullivan takes a more sober look at the kind of outcome that would send the Irish bouncing to the Aviva for next Tuesday’s clash with England.

“We know we have a massive task on our hands (tonight). We know how good

France are here,” said the

North Carolina Courage midfielder.

Realistic

“I think getting a draw would be massive for us. That’s definitely realistic as something we can do. We have to be switched on for every minute and not switch off at all.

“For the times we do get the ball, we have to be sure that we do something with it because you don’t get many opportunities against these teams.

“Hopefully we can put one away with the opportunities we get.”

A point tonight would be a major boost for the Girls in Green, whose most likely route to (third

Euro 2025 is through a play-off later this year, with only the top two in their group qualifying automatically. Having that safety net is not something that O’Sullivan is focusing on right now.

“I haven’t even looked towards the play-off, it’s not even in the back of my mind,” she insisted.

“The mindset going into this is to do well in these games. Every game is going to be a final for us.

“It’s a massive task. I haven’t thought about the play-off. We’re not here to make up the numbers, we’re here to do well and compete against these teams.”

O’Sullivan believes the team is even better than they were in March 2022 when they became the first team in 12 years to take points off Sweden on their home turf. getting something.

“The past few years, this team has come on in leaps and bounds. We have that experience from the World Cup, playing in a major tournament and we’ll take that on board.

“But I think this team is definitely ready to play against these teams. We went through the Nations League and did well.

Massive

“But we know now what we have ahead, this is a massive challenge and they’re a really good side. We have to be realistic as well about these games, you know.”

When the draw for the Euro qualifiers was made last month, O’Sullivan posted her reaction on social media, writing: “We wanted to be here, now we are. Let’s have it.”

She will take that fearless attitude into tonight’s game, saying: “As an athlete, a professional you want to be playing against the top teams in the world.

“Now we have that opportunity so I think we need to take it with both hands and go out and give it everything (tonight) and see what happens.”

O’Sullivan missed the draw away to Italy and the disappointing defeat to Wales in February as she nursed a knee injury.

She suffered bone bruising during a pre-season game against Orlando and was sidelined for a few weeks, but insisted: “I’m 110 per cent now and ready to go.”

Just like the rest of this Irish team.