IZZY ATKINSON WILL be one of several players hoping to catch the eye of Republic of Ireland women’s national team boss Vera Pauw today.
The auditions for next summer’s World Cup are underway in Marbella, and today’s behind-closed-doors clash against Morocco ahead of the full international friendly on Monday is the perfect opportunity to stake a claim.
“Vera has said that a lot of the girls like myself who haven’t got a lot of minutes for the senior team, they are the ones who will play in the closed-doors game,” West Ham winger and full-back Atkinson explained on a video call from Spain this week.
“Players like myself will hopefully get a bit of time and hopefully, I will be able to do well in it and make an impact. It gives us a chance. I’m looking forward to it… see what I can do, excited by it.
“The past few weeks, obviously I’ve been wanting to get more minutes with West Ham, putting a bit of pressure on myself because I need to be playing as much as I can to get on the plane to Australia. I’ve just got to keep pushing, keep doing what I’m doing, and hopefully getting as much minutes as I can.”
The competition in the Irish set-up has undeniably ramped up a few notches since qualification for a first-ever major tournament was achieved last month.
“Even knowing we can’t bring 28 players,” Atkinson, who has four senior caps, nods. “We found out it’s 23 players that can go and three training players, when we’ve always had a squad of 28. Even at that, the squad’s going to be smaller.
“And there’s so much more players. Everything’s just getting better around Ireland, around England. There’s players moving over to the Championship, those like myself going to the WSL, it is just getting better and better, and the competition is getting more intense.”
The 21-year-old Dubliner made the move to the English top-flight from Celtic this summer.
She adjusted to London life almost immediately — “I found it a lot easier to settle in than I did with Celtic. It was grand, to be fair” — and she has continually impressed off the bench, though her minutes have been limited under former Premier League star Paul Konchesky.
“It is quite frustrating to be honest, but it’s good that I have until next July [to claim a World Cup spot]. I have been doing well at West Ham but I’m still disappointed with the minutes that I have gotten. But I’m just going to keep working hard, doing what I have been doing, stay positive. I have a long time to get back into the team and do things right, and I’m still confident that I will do that.”
Atkinson does hail ‘Konch’ as “definitely someone that I look up to,” while she’s joined by former Shelbourne team-mate, close friend and now housemate, Jess Ziu, at the Hammers. Ziu is currently out with a cruciate ligament knee injury, mostly home in Dublin at the minute, leaving Atkinson “like a lost dog,” she laughs.
“She’s got her surgery now, I think on the 15th, so I hope all goes well. She’s doing okay, she’s doing all she can and she’ll definitely be back stronger than ever. I can’t wait for her to come back after Christmas, and we’ll do everything together again.”
While things are a little different for Ziu — ruled out of the World Cup already by Pauw — for Atkinson, the focus is firmly on the plane to Australia.
And how she can secure that golden ticket.
“Everyone’s a bit different, but I’ve had small conversations with Vera just about improving the little parts of my game — just little things that will help me get better. She was quite strict on me improving the little things that will obviously help me out in the future.
“Other than that really, she was just keen on [me] getting game time, playing as much as I can because you’re going to be in the best shape when you’re starting, just playing minutes. She hasn’t said too much, to be fair, but obviously we will be having lots of talk over the next few months on how everyone can be in the best shape they can and be ready for Australia.”
What about a potential loan move? “To be honest, I have not really thought about stuff like that, going on loan and that,” she shirks.
“I do feel like I should be getting more minutes at West Ham so I am just going to keep working hard, stay confident because I do believe I should be getting more minutes. So I am just going to keep working to get into the team, I am just going to focus on that and hopefully, I will be getting more minutes before long.”
Having arguably spent more time watching than on the pitch in recent months, Atkinson has also observed her former club Shelbourne from afar. Noel King’s Reds completed the Women’s National League and FAI Cup double last weekend, though their former winger missed tuning into the latter due to her own match. That immeasurable pride remains.
“It’s a team that is very close to my heart, me and my Dad were only saying that I will probably finish my career there, so it is so good to see them winning because they really do deserve it, especially doing the double. I’m so happy for all of them.”
Just like Ireland qualifying for the World Cup in the wake of last month’s historic play-off win over Scotland at Hampden Park.
“I mean it’s a dream come true,” Atkinson reflects, a smile breaking across her face. “Obviously it’s been one of my dreams since I was a kid. It’s crazy that we’ve actually done it – and especially to be part of it when it’s the first time in history. It’s special.
“Honestly, it was class. Going back to West Ham and seeing the girls, obviously Lisa Evans of Scotland was there. She was even happy, even though they didn’t qualify. It was sad for her but she was happy for us as well.”
