Northern Ireland coach Dean Shiels has hailed the character of attacker Rachel Furness ahead of the nation’s decisive UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 qualifying match against the Faroe Islands at Seaview tomorrow evening.
The Green and White Army are just one win away from finishing their qualifying campaign as group runners-up and in-turn, securing a play-off spot for a place in the tournament finals in a little over 18 months’ time.
Liverpool attacker Furness has been instrumental in Northern Ireland’s qualifying campaign so far with the player having scored in each of her last three UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 qualifying matches. Ahead of tomorrow night’s clash with the Faroe Islands in Belfast, coach Shiels paid tribute to Furness and highlighted the character which she brings to the side.
“She epitomises what the group is about, her character, that Northern Irish spirit of having to dig in” said Shiels.
“There are moments when the big players turn up and in Minsk, she turned up with the header and then the penalty the other night, you don’t want anyone else on it, only Rachel.
“She has got so much ability but it is about her character, she leads the group and the girls go with her, they trust her and she is a big part of our group.”
Furness is one of the most senior members of the Northern Irish group and coach Shiels believes that it is those experienced players like the 32-year-old attacker who deserve recognition for their hard work in bringing the national team to the point where it is today.
He added “She (Furness) leads the group with her actions, she gets players motivated with the way that she plays her game and the girls really respond to that.
“It’s not just her, it’s people like Ashley Hutton and Julie Nelson who have more than 100 caps. They’ve been there and done it with no recognition, not a sniff of qualification in the past, it is these girls who have put in the hard yards over the years and you hope that they get the reward that they deserve.”
With just two points collected from their opening four qualifying matches, nobody would have predicted that Northern Ireland would now be one win away from securing a runners-up spot. Even before the nation were written off by the doubters midway through their qualification campaign nobody really gave them any chance.
Summarising the attitudes previously shown towards Northern Ireland’s qualification hopes, Shiels said “I don’t think anyone really gave us a chance to be honest.
“I think Wales have spoken publicly to say that they never really gave us much of a chance, they thought it was between them and Norway to win the group.
“We had a strong belief in ourselves and I think the game against Wales away, we dominated the ball, scored late in the game and really showed them that we are here in the group to compete for second place.
“Norway are the standout team in the group but maybe Wales stood up and gave us a little bit more respect after that game.”
Northern Ireland’s final UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 qualifier against the Faroe Islands kicks-off at 7pm tomorrow evening and will be available to stream live on the BBC Sport website and on the BBC iPlayer.
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