ONTO THE NEXT one.
After the razzmatazz of an Aviva Stadium showdown and historic win over Northern Ireland, another challenge awaits amidst a much lower-profile trip to Budapest.
But the focus and expectation remains the same: a second quick-fire win in three days as the Republic of Ireland look to assume complete control of Group B1 in the Uefa Women’s Nations League.
Eileen Gleeson’s side are favourites once again for tonight’s clash against Hungary at Hidegkuti Nándor Stadium [KO 6.30pm Irish time, live on RTÉ 2].
That tag certainly didn’t weigh heavily against the North on Saturday, though it’s something the team — with FAI Head of Women’s and Girls Football Gleeson in interim charge — must get used to.
They have thoroughly enjoyed being the underdog in recent times, going toe-to-toe with higher-ranked opposition, but they are very much the hunted rather than hunters in Group B1 of the Nations League. In fact, they are the top seed in the whole of League B.
Hungary are 42nd in Fifa’s world rankings, 18 places below Ireland. They’re a fairly unknown quantity, and were held to a 1-1 draw by group minnows Albania (72nd) last week. Margret Kratz’s squad predominantly comprises of home-based players, with others dotted across her native Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Sweden. They’re currently without star striker Fanny Vágó.
While yet to qualify for a major tournament, Hungary did enjoy a run of friendly wins during the summer, having been beaten 8-0 by Ireland’s World Cup qualifying group rivals Finland earlier in the year.
This will be the eighth meeting of the sides, their last duel a 0-0 draw at the 2017 Cyprus Cup. They also finished all square in a 2015 friendly, when a certain Katie McCabe made her senior debut.
Now captain, McCabe will look to lead from the front as Ireland carry the favourites tag.
At the World Cup, they were the very opposite against top-10 opposition in Australia and Canada. Through qualification, they played second fiddle to the likes of Sweden and Finland, but achieved two wins and a draw from those four meetings, and then there was that fateful night against Scotland at Hampden Park.
Then again, they slipped up at home against fourth seeds Slovakia, coming from behind to rescue a 1-1 draw. Remember Greece and Ukraine in the previous campaign.
Saturday’s 3-0 win over Northern Ireland was perhaps a corner turned as they front up to a contrasting challenge.
“I think it will be a different match against Hungary,” as former international Karen Duggan said on Off The Ball’s The COYGIG Pod.
“I think it will be a lot scrappier, I think Hungary will set up to frustrate us and kick us and stuff like that. We have to be prepared for that now because we have a profile in this group. We do it to other teams who are ranked above us, it’s going to be done to us now so it will be interesting to see how we cope with that.
“Something we need to get comfortable with is being the favourites and being the dominant team in possession. It’s something we’ve struggled with in the past. While it would be better to be in League A, playing against higher-ranked teams, this gives us the opportunity to become more comfortable in those games.
“You’re always fearing those games against Slovakia and the likes. They’ve never been show-stopper games when we have played them, so this is a good opportunity for that.”
Gleeson has a fully-fit squad to choose from, with Denise O’Sullivan and Louise Quinn recovering from minor knocks amidst the tight turnaround.
The XI selection will be interesting, a balance to be struck between continuity and freshening things up should the Dubliner opt that way, but the result remains paramount as this new era continues.
“We had an excellent start to our Uefa Nations League campaign with the win over Northern Ireland in front of a record crowd. It was a historic day, but now our full focus is on the next game against Hungary to ensure that we do all that we can to take the three points on offer,” Gleeson stressed.
“Hungary will be a difficult opponent and playing at home gives them an extra edge. We won’t take anything for granted as we aim for another three points.”
A crowd of only 1,000 are expected in Budapest tonight, a far remove from the almost 36,000 who watched on at the Aviva on Saturday.
But the focus remains the same.
Onto the next one, with European Championship qualification ultimately the end goal.
