Over 4,000 tickets have been sold for tonight’s Tallaght Stadium World Cup Qualifier between the Republic of Ireland and Georgia.

After good wins against Australia and Finland in recent matches, expectations are high for a strong performance to consolidate a good start to the campaign.

The Australia win in a friendly saw a three-goal haul for the team and was followed by a good performance but a narrow defeat at home to Group favourites Sweden.

The 2-1 win away in Finland has put the team in a strong position to finish second but the home fans on a cold night last week against Slovakia were left disappointed with what was a hard-earned point in a game that could have gone either way.

The noise around the team has been incredibly positive with strong support from the fans and sponsors. Sky Ireland, Cadbury and Aviva in particular have been strong in promoting their association to the group.

This will be the last game until away trips to Sweden and Georgia in April and June of next year so it is important to leave a good impression, as well as to secure three points.

The next home qualifier will not be until the vital match against Finland on September 1st.

Heather Payne who has led the line for the past two games has returned to do exams at Florida State University and is likely to be replaced by either Kyra Carusa or Amber Barrett.

“We are clear about it, this is a must-win game for us if we are to qualify for the World Cup,” said manager Vera Pauw.

“We have prepared well and we are ready for this game, but we know that we must take the three points.”

“As we expected when the draw for Group A was made, there are no easy games. In fact, we believe this to be the most difficult group of all with both Slovakia and Georgia being a lot stronger than they are given credit for. And, of course, we have the top two seeds in Sweden and Finland.

“It was fantastic to have over 5,000 fans for our game against Slovakia. The atmosphere that they create is just incredible and we hope that our fans will be there once again on Tuesday night cheering the team on.”

Georgia have conceded nine goals in their three defeats to date in the group.

Tonight’s game will be live on RTÉ2 TV from 7 PM with commentary as well on Off The Ball. The Social Media graphics that are being used in advance, as seen above are excellent once more.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland continue to ride the crest of their qualification for next summer’s Euro Finals.

They have beaten North Macedonia 11-0 and 9-0 in the past week and currently lie two points behind England in their qualifying group.

 Sport for Business Perspective

 It should be the case and it needs to be a win, ideally with a few goals and a bit of a swagger.
The Republic of Ireland’s next home qualifier is not for another ten months so if you can go, go tonight and lend support in person.

 

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