Northern Ireland head coach Kenny Shiels has hailed the return of Liverpool forward Rachel Furness to the squad for this month’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia New Zealand 2023 qualifiers against Luxembourg and Latvia.
The 33-year-old attacker broke her fibula in the first leg of Northern Ireland’s UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 play-off against Ukraine in April but she has returned to the international fold this month, scoring one goal and providing an assist in her comeback game against Luxembourg in Larne on Friday evening.
Furness could again have a key role to play for The Green and White Army on Tuesday night as they look to make it two wins out of two in qualifying when they face Latvia at Windsor Park. The player has become an iconic member of the Northern Ireland team in recent times and head coach Shiels is delighted to have Furness back in the squad.
“Rachel has a personality that is infectious;” Shiels told FAWSL Full-Time in his pre-match press conference. “She is our talisman, she has scored a lot of goals for us, she is very vocal on the pitch in terms of communication lines, she brings that strength of character and that personality to the team.
“We missed her when we were without her at home against Ukraine and away for most of the Ukraine game. We have coped very well, I think that other people realise that they have to step up when Rachel is not playing.
“It is great to have her back, she brings so much to the table.”
Northern Ireland’s 4-0 victory over Luxembourg on Friday was one of a number of one-sided scorelines recorded with 11 nations winning their opening FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia New Zealand 2023 qualifying matches by four or more goals. The results have sparked debate over whether the qualification system needs to be redesigned and Shiels went on to say that the situation causes a real dilemma.
He said “If you look at players learning the game, it is so much better if it is competitive and it is closer whereas if you win or lose a game 10-0, there’s not a lot of learning or education going on in the progress of their careers. There must be something that can be put in place where the games are more competitive.
“There’s no perfect answer to it because there are reasons why a change might work and reasons why a change might not work, we are all in the might camp. We don’t really have total knowledge or experience of how it might work.
“There are so many different variables in there where you can say ‘this team won 8-1 or 9-0 or whatever’. If you look at the six top seeds and the six pots that they are in, six nines is 54, there are six or seven groups of six with maybe a couple of fives in there – what do you do? You have to go with what the rules are.
“For years now, Northern Ireland have never qualified for a major tournament but we are now talking about qualifications, it’s just outrageous.”
Northern Ireland’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia New Zealand 2023 qualifier against Latvia at Windsor Park kicks-off at 7pm on Tuesday evening.
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