Northern Ireland head coach Kenny Shiels says that competing with England will be a marker of their success.
The Green and White Army are the rank outsiders to win this evening’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia New Zealand 2023 qualifier against England at Wembley but they do go into the match unbeaten in eight qualifying matches, a run which helped the nation qualify for a first-ever UEFA Women’s EURO finals.
It will take possibly Northern Ireland’s greatest performance to get a result at Wembley but head coach Shiels says that the team’s success will be measured on how they compete with England
“Have we been competitive or have we not been competitive will be a common denominator,” Shiels said when speaking to FAWSL Full-Time in his pre-match press conference. “If we get some satisfaction from that and we compete with a strong opponent in different parts of the pitch….it is according to where we make the progress but it is all about making progress. If we take steps back then I will be disappointed.
“One thing we will do is give everything we have and the girls are right up for that.”
Northern Ireland will play in England at next summer’s UEFA Women’s EURO finals as the lowest-ranked side involved in the competition. Shiels went on to say that this evening’s game will provide his side with a great learning experience ahead of that tournament.
He said “We are using friendlies for our experimental process but when we go into qualifiers and important games like this one, all of our emphasis is on winning.
“It is important that we learn if or as we win, we have to learn from that.”
The FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia New Zealand 2023 qualifier between England and Northern Ireland kicks-off at 5.15pm. Tickets remain on general sale and are available here right up until kick-off.
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