2023 FIFAWWC: "Super Falcons Are Massive Threat To Ireland"

2023 FIFAWWC: "Super Falcons Are Massive Threat To Ireland"

Ibrahim Lateef 

Louise Quinn has has tagged Nigeria's Super Falcons as a massive threat but insists the Republic of Ireland will not be using any excuses when they reflect on their maiden appearance at FIFA Women's World Cup, BSNSports.com. ng sourced from RTE.

Housed in a very tough Group B, Ireland's have had injury scares to Denise O'Sullivan and Quinn herself in the last two weeks, with Heather Payne forced to pull out of the Canada game after her hamstring tightened up in the warm-up.

They've also had a highly demanding travel schedule. Based in Brisbane, the Girls in Green flew to Sydney for the Australia match, came back to Brisbane, flew over 4,000km to Perth to take on the Canadians and are now back in Brisbane ahead of their final game against Nigeria on Monday.

Tough going, but Quinn is refusing to dwell on such challenges.

"I don't think we've used any sort of excuses," said the 33-year-old centre-half.

"Denise definitely got a knock, I’ve definitely had a knock, thankfully it’s one of those things that hasn’t been able to keep us out. We’re not going to use any excuses.

Quinn damaged ligaments in her foot towards the end of the 1-0 loss to the Matildas. However she played through the pain barrier to face Canada and is ready to do so again against Nigeria, who are aiming to reach the last 16 after their brilliant win against the Aussies last Friday.

Ireland have no chance of making it out of the group but Quinn said they still have loads to play for: pride, morale and the supporters.

"We've got to work our ass off to get something out of it," she added.

"We can’t get out of the group but that doesn’t mean this game is any less important for us. It’s absolutely about pride it’s about proving ourselves, it’s about bringing that kind of joy with us back and trying to make sure we do it for the people at home.

"And most importantly ourselves, because you can see from the games we’ve done well, we’ve competed, we’ve really held it to other teams but we’ve got to still prove it and put something on the board to show it.

"We've come into the group always knowing that Nigeria were going to be a massive threat - that’s always been our mindset.

"They’ve got their star striker [Barcelona's Asisat Oshoala], they’ve got real pace, they’ve got a fantastic shape, they defensively work hard, their recovery runs, their quality on the ball. They’ve always been a threat."