The Republic of Ireland and Iceland are level in their UEFA WOMEN’S EURO 2009™ play-off following a draw in Dublin. Michele O’Brien (pictured above) used to be my Assistant Coach at New York University, and without mincing my words, Michele kicks ass. Next up: Away at Iceland. If anybody can knock in this crucial away goal, it’s OB1.
I spoke with Michele today (she’s on a layover in Copenhagen – Hooray for Skype and the SAS VIP Lounge) to ask her how she felt about the first leg’s result. She said, “We were nervous when the game started and conceded a goal in 25 seconds, but we settled into the game and competed. We gave them too much respect initially.”
Michele said the plan for their return game is to “play solid defense to start, to ensure we don’t concede anything early, as we cant afford to. But at the same time we need an away goal, so we’ll go at them wisely and with conviction as the game progresses.”
I asked OB how the team is responding mentally, knowing that qualification into this Tournament is one match away. She said, “We are more focused than ever because we know what is at stake. As a team we got better over the last 90 in Dublin; they [Iceland] didn’t. We will continue to get better now that we have seen what we are up against.”
OB concluded, “We are aware that it is a tough task playing away, but we know what we need to do and are fully confident we can achieve it. The prize is 90 minutes away.”
Go here for the full report from UEFA: http://www.uefa.com/competitions/woco/fixturesresults/round=15045/match=304158/report=rp.html
Way to go Ireland! Perhaps their 3-game tour vs. USA this fall helped with their preparations…? (Good move manager Noel King.) Here are a couple photos from the game at Toyota Park, taken of course by photographer, Katie Stapely.
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go green guys go! if it is ’snowing’ in chicago, i wonder what iceland is like! brrrrr….