Liverpool attacker Rachel Furness says that no team can be underestimated as Northern Ireland prepare to begin their FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia New Zealand 2023 campaign against Luxembourg on Friday.
The Green and White Army have been placed in a tough group which includes England and Austria but they begin their campaign against lower ranked sides Luxembourg and Latvia on home soil over the course of the next week.
Northern Ireland defied the odds to become the lowest-ranked side to ever qualify for a UEFA Women’s EURO, a tournament in which they will feature next summer. Attacker Furness believes that no team can ever be written off in competitive international football despite the gap between Northern Ireland and upcoming opponents Luxembourg in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings.
“I think what we have achieved in this last year shows that you can’t underestimate any team;” Furness told FAWSL Full-Time in a Northern Ireland press conference. “Northern Ireland will always be the underdogs, maybe teams have underestimated us in the past and that was a big mistake.
“We have got to look at Luxembourg as if we are playing one of the best countries in the world and we as a nation will never underestimate anybody because we have been in that position many times and we know that when there’s fire in the belly, that’s what motivates other nations.
“We will fully respect the opposition that we are up against and will treat it as our World Cup final like we do every game.”
Furness went on to say that Northern Ireland are looking to make a statement in FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia New Zealand 2023 qualifying, however, the player admits that she does have an eye on next summer’s EUROs and would not swap walking out in that tournament finals for anything.
She said “I couldn’t swap anything for potentially walking out for my country in a European Championship, that’s something that even as a little girl, I have dreamed of. I can’t think of anything past that right now.
“I think going into a World Cup campaign, it’s massive, it’s almost 10 times harder to qualify but we like a challenge, we like where we are going as a nation and hopefully, we are inspiring the younger girls coming through. There are a lot of younger girls in the team who will hopefully do something in this campaign.
“We don’t just want to be another country, we want to do something in the group these days.”
Furness broke her fibula in the first leg of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 play-off against the Ukraine. She has worked hard to regain her fitness with her club and is thankful for the support which she has received.
“For club I have been going through a process building myself up;” Furness said. “Am I as sharp as I want to be yet? No, I’m still working hard every day on that.
“Matt (Beard) has supported me with that and the club have. I have been working really hard and have had open dialogue with Kenny (Shiels) alongside that and the club have supported me in getting where I am today and that’s being selected for Northern Ireland which is what I wanted since I broke my leg.”
Northern Ireland’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia New Zealand 2023 qualifier against Luxembourg kicks-off at 7pm on Friday evening at Inver Park, Larne.
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