Ireland's Denise O'Sullivan has claimed that she and the Ireland players are ready to take on the challenge of the French tonight.
Ireland plays France in their opening game of the Euro 2025 qualification campaign. The game will provide a sterner test than what the Ireland team has been used to so far under manager Eileen Gleeson.
After sailing through their Nations League group, the chance to prove themselves among the best starts today.
Gleeson earlier this week claimed that Ireland was aiming to win and compete against the French, and her player, O'Sullivan, is of the same mindset.
"I think as an athlete, a professional, you want to be playing against the top teams in the world," she said.
"Now we have that opportunity, so I think we need to take it with both hands and go out and give it everything tomorrow night and see what happens.
"We know how good France is, but 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."
Ireland has come on leaps and bounds since they made it to their first-ever Women's World Cup last summer, and O'Sullivan now believes that Ireland can compete, but they have to be realistic when playing the tougher sides.
Head coach Eileen Gleeson during a Republic of Ireland Women's training session at Stage Saint-Symphorien in Metz, France. (Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images) )"The past few years, this team has come on in leaps and bounds," O'Sullivan reflected. "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, but we know now what we have ahead.
"We still need to be defensively organised, hard to beat, but use the opportunities when we get the ball. When we get the ball, it’s about what we can do from there.
"This is a massive challenge, and they’re a really good side. We have to be realistic as well about these games, you know."
A win for Ireland against the team ranked third in the women's world rankings would be a huge achievement for this Ireland side, but for O'Sullivan, a draw would be something that she wouldn't scoff at either.
"I think getting a draw would be massive for us," she added. "That’s definitely realistic as something we can do. We have to be switched on for every minute and not switched 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."
MATCH DETAILS
UEFA EURO 2025 Qualifier
Group A3
France vs. Ireland
Friday, April 5
Saint-Smyphorien Stadium, Metz
KO 20:10 (Irish Time)
LIVE on RTÉ2
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Maria Caputi (Italy)
Assistant Referee 1: Francesca Di Monte (Italy)
Assistant Referee 2: Tiziana Trasciatti (Italy)
Fourth Official: Alice Gagliardi (Italy)
Predicted line-ups
France: Pauline Peyraud-Magnin; Maelle Lakrar, Griedge Mbock Bathy, Eve Perisset, Sakina Karchaoui; Sandie Toletti, Kenza Dali; Selma Bacha, Kadidiatou Diani, Antoinette Katoto; Delphine Cascarino
Republic of Ireland: Courtney Brosnan; Heather Payne, Caitlin Hayes, Louise Quinn, Aoife Mannion, Katie McCabe; Tyler Toland, Megan Connolly, Denise O'Sullivan; Jess Ziu; Kyra Carusa
