A REJUVENATED STEPHANIE Roche is looking forward to taking part in Ireland’s Euro 2017 qualifying campaign ahead of the side’s opening match against Finland on Monday.
With their opponents the top-ranked seeds in the group, Roche and co are under no illusions as to the scale of the challenge facing them at Tallaght Stadium next week.
“We did really well in last campaign and we were unlucky not to qualify,” she says. “And obviously, the first game is going to be the most important one. If we play really well, we can get a result.”
After a difficult period for Roche in which her dream of playing in America came to a premature end after she was let go by Houston Dash, the striker is now enjoying her football again having signed for Sunderland.
“Everything in America was a bit of a let-down so my biggest challenge was to prove to myself that I was a good player. I’ve been given the opportunity and given games, so I’m just looking forward to playing.
“I wouldn’t say [the America disappointment] knocked my confidence. I said before that I was doing well and I was told I was doing well, so I had to just keep my head up. Things like that happen in football — especially in America, it’s like a business. I had to not take it to heart, but I was lucky that Sunderland came in quite quickly and I was happy not to have to dwell on it.
“I came to Sunderland when the team were doing really well, so I was happy to be given the opportunity to play — I was given the opportunity and I took it.”
And despite the acclaim and the fame she has attained as a result, Roche is also determined to move on from her improbable achievement of finishing as runner-up in the Fifa Puskas Award.
“I said I was never going to forget what happened with the Puskas Award. It was brilliant… But it’s something I want to move on from now as well and hopefully I can do that by playing more games for Sunderland and Ireland.”
Roche has made positive strides in her career with the Black Cats thus far, playing a number of games and recently scoring her first goal against Everton. While emphasising that the National League, where Roche started her career, is “improving,” she acknowledges that England is “a big step up” by comparison.
“A lot of the players with the English team are full-time and get good salaries — they train professionally and work really hard. But I don’t think we’re too far behind.”
She also stresses that life in England and the style of football is vastly different compared with her short stint at Houston.
“In America, it’s all about fitness and players being athletes more than footballers. So I think in England the football is a lot better for me and with Sunderland, the team just got promoted, so we have to play a bit defensively and on the break, and the midfielders have to work a bit harder to defend as well as get forward. It’s something I feel I’ve done quite well at — being put in a different position and a different mindset.”
Yet despite all she has achieved in recent times, Roche admits that she is by no means guaranteed a spot in Ireland’s first XI.
“I’m glad I’ve got the opportunity to play a lot of football. I’m fit, sharp and ready to go.
“I think every player wants to play and to start in games, but we have a very good squad, so I have to be understanding at times if I don’t start.”
(Ireland’s Emma Byrne pictured at yesterday’s press conference)
Meanwhile, Roche’s international colleague, the veteran Arsenal goalkeeper Emma Byrne, describes how she has experienced mixed feelings about Ireland’s Euro 2017 qualifying group.
“I thought it was a good group until I was talking to the girls this morning and they were saying how Portugal had improved and Finland are one of the top seeds, but in general, I was happy with it, as we avoided the Germans, the French and the Swedes.
“But it doesn’t really matter who you get — we have to be consistent, we have to play well ourselves, and that’s something we need to focus on.
“We’ve got great players in — Clare Shine has just come in… We’re really positive about these players coming in. We might have to change the team a bit, because we don’t have a target player, but I think that could suit us as well, because Finland’s two centre halves are probably two of the best in Europe, so we don’t want to be lumping balls up there.”
Indeed, Ireland are without striker Fiona O’Sullivan, who has made herself unavailable for personal reasons for the foreseeable future.
“I do think Fiona’s a significant part of the team. We have some really good forwards in the squad and it might change our style a little bit. I know Fiona says she wants to come back, but it’s not the right time for her — she has a few things going on in her personal life.
“We have the likes of Steph coming in who’s well able to play that number nine position. We’ll adapt — that’s what international football is all about. you can’t depend on one player.”
And despite some difficult matches ahead, Byrne is confident about the team’s chances of progression.
“Our number one aim is to qualify and top the group, because we’re well capable of it. We played Finland a couple of years ago — we’re capable of beating them. We’ve played Spain in the last year. They beat us 1-0, but we didn’t play well at all, so we know we can do better.
“We’re the type of team that Spain and Finland need to beat. They’re not sure of our standards and we’ve been a little bit up and down. We’re not too sure ourselves, but they’ll definitely be coming out here fully focused and trying to beat us, because they know we’re capable of taking points off them.”
In addition, with a number of exciting youngsters such as Katie McCabe coming through, as evidenced by Irish teams’ success at underage level, the future looks bright for the Girls in Green.
However, Byrne acknowledges that for the public’s level of interest to go up a notch, it’s essential for the team to be successful, despite the recent success of Stephanie Roche and the Women’s World Cup generating plenty of interest.
“If we qualify, I think the whole country would be behind us and people would be more aware and [the media] would be a lot more interested.
“My uncle says ‘if we’re not winning games, where are all these players from U17 and U19 level?’ But there’s such a huge step up to seniors and I think they need a little bit more time. We’re a great group already and we need a few younger players to grab hold of [opportunities] and be comfortable with us. I think, in two years’ time, we’ll be a completely different team and we’ll be up there with the top teams in Europe.”
However, it’s surely instant success or bust as far as Byrne is concerned. At 36, she admits her days in football are numbered, and that this campaign is likely to be her last.
“I’ll never give a date [for my retirement]. It could be over Monday if I get an injury, but I’ll always play as long as I can.
“I do feel the pressure of it towards the end of my career — I really want to qualify.
“We got to the playoffs a few years ago against Iceland. We were really unlucky. I’m going to do an Arsene Wenger now and say ‘it was the referee’s fault’. It was really poor conditions and we were all heartbroken.
“I definitely think we had the players and we’ve got the players now. We have one of the best centre-haleves in Europe — Niamh Fahey.
“So I feel like this is the time to do it.”
