Today’s Republic of Ireland Women’s Euro 2021 qualifier in Montenegro will go ahead but will be played behind closed doors. The game will be broadcast live on RTÉ 2 this afternoon.
The decision to play without fans echos moves that are taking place across European football and other sport at every level and was just announced this morning.
Having claimed a 1-0 home win over Greece last Thursday, Vera Pauw’s team aim to extend their unbeaten run as they face an opponent who they previously beat 2-0 last September.
Three points would be enough to elevate Ireland to top spot, ahead of their meeting with current group leaders Germany next month, and further boost their chances of qualifying for next summer’s finals tournament in England.
The nine group winners and the three best runners-up (not counting results against the sixth-placed team) qualify directly for the final tournament, while the remaining six runners-up advance to the play-offs.
“We set ourselves the target of six points from two games in this series, so having beaten Greece last week we now know that our job is to beat Montenegro to complete that task,” said Pauw.
“We know what to expect from Montenegro and we will need to apply a lot of pressure to break through and score the goals that we need to win the game. So that is what we have been preparing for.”
“We haven’t had that much time together to work as a team with only a few days training before the Greece game, but I’ve told the players that the more time we have together then the better we will become in possession and in finishing chances in front of goal. And that, ultimately, is what we need to do in order to take the three points.”
“We have prepared well for this game and we are looking forward to it.”
If you are not able to get to a TV to watch, the game will be shown live on the RTÉ Player and there will be live updates on social media using the hashtags #MNEIRL and #IRLWNT
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Image Credit: Sportsfile