Despite drawing 1-1 against Spain yesterday in Amstelveen, Ireland were left devasted as goal difference sent the opposition side through based on previous performances.
With both teams having accumulated the same amount of points in Pool A, it seems Spain’s conciliation goal in their 7-1 loss to the Netherlands proved the fatal blow to Ireland’s first European Championship semi-final hopes.
A fifth place finish would still see them progress to the ultimate 2022 competition, meaning their upcoming matches Vs England (Friday) and Vs Italy (Saturday) have the upmost importance, with one other opportunity to qualify in October if they fail to do so.
HOW IT WORKS:
Ireland (A3) now enter POOL C with Scotland (A4), England (B3) & Italy (B4) - in a Round Robin league format – into which each teams carry the result between themselves & the other team from their original Pool. So, Ireland would carry their 1-0 win over Scotland... pic.twitter.com/HuxZbRxF71— Elaine Buckley (@ElaineBucko) June 9, 2021
An exceptional start with a set piece goal from Róisín Upton in the second minute proved elusive to Ireland who only maintained their lead for only 10 minutes before Spain pulled one back through Begoña Garcia.
The women in red then went on to dominate much of the game as Ireland desperately tried to regain possession and the upside on the scoreline but continued to come under siege.
Speaking after the game goal scorer Upton talked of how Ireland were “absolutely gutted”, but with two more clinch fixtures to come they reflect on their woes for too long.
“I think after we scored in the first quarter we just put ourselves under too much pressure. We needed to manage that phase of the game much better” she said.
“They’re a great side and we know each other so well and we play each other so often but I suppose it’s just hanging onto the ball more…look we’ll debrief and we’ve 2 more games to go so you can’t be two disappointed for two long.”
“We came here for you know a top five finish, something that we achieved at the last Euros and something we know we are capable of achieving so we’ll watch the next couple of games closely today and see who we’re matched up against.”
Ireland goalscorer Roisín Upton rues her side's lack of cutting edge #EHC2021 #RTESport pic.twitter.com/W4jAl5N74r
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 9, 2021
Team lists
Ireland: A McFerran, R Upton, N Evans, K Mullan, S McCay, L Tice, N Carroll, H McLoughlin, L Holden, S Hawkshaw, A O’Flanagan
Subs: M Carey, M Frazer, C Watkins, N Daly, H Matthews, D Duke, L Murphy
Spain: M Ruiz, C Petchame, M Lopez, B Iglesias, L Riera, J Pons, B Garcia, X Gine, B Perez, G Oliva, L Jimenez
Subs: L Barrios, B Bonastre, C Mejias, A Torres-Quevedo, A Magaz, P Alvarez, M Garcia
