REPUBLIC OF IRELAND goal-scorer Denise O’Sullivan suspects France “underestimated” her side by announcing 11 changes to their line-up for their Euro 2025 qualifier at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

The Cork native, who delighted home fans with the first of Ireland’s three goals last night, noted that the personnel calls were linked with France’s upcoming plans for the Olympics. They had also already secured qualification, but were aiming to top Group A3 with victory in Cork.

She felt the sheer number of changes was “probably an insult,” but insists that Ireland were anticipating strong opposition regardless of who was selected to start.

“It’s probably an insult but it’s fine,” O’Sullivan begins.

“We said it before the game, whoever France were going to put out there anyway, they were going to be world-class players so we had to focus on ourselves. But yeah, they already qualified and they’re going to the Olympics so I wasn’t surprised that they changed it because they’re probably focusing on that but we went out and just focused on ourselves and we knew we could get the win and we did so we’re happy.”

France unloaded a strong bench in the second half as Ireland started to dominate the game. Delphine Cascarino made a strong impact after her half-time introduction while Kadidiatou Diani was also drafted into service for the final 10 minutes of the second game at a time when France were still only trailing by one goal.

“Probably,” O’Sullivan replied when asked if Ireland shocked France with their attacking display.

“I would think so. I think they probably underestimated us coming into this game with 11 changes, clearly they underestimated us. So we probably shocked them a little bit but they’re a world-class team and yeah, I’m happy we got the three points.”

Ireland boss Gleeson was also asked about France’s numerous changes to their team.

“There was all this talk around it but we just tried to keep the focus on ourselves,” she responded. “We knew they had a great squad. If you try to speculate on what they are going to do, you can wrap yourself up in all sorts. So we just wanted to build on the performance from Friday against England. We thought we were better in transition there and our build-up phases, we wanted to build on that coming in and keep the focus on ourselves.”

A native of Knocknaheeny in Cork city, O’Sullivan says that assistant coach — and fellow Cork local — Colin Healy predicted a big night for ahead of kick-off.

“You are going to score tonight,” he told her.

And so it was, as she found the bottom corner with a beautiful strike in the 66th minute. Interestingly, the goal came 13 years after home debut for Ireland. That game was at Turners Cross, and again, France were the opposition. She had never played in Páirc Uí Chaoimh before, but she smiled as she stated that “we have to come back to Cork more often.”

She added that her family turned out in huge numbers for the occasion, relieved to not be travelling to Dublin for a home fixture. 

“60 of them,” the youngest of 10 siblings replied when asked how many of her flock were there cheering her on.

“It was unbelievable. I saw them before the game but I went to the opposite side [after scoring the goal] as I was just over that way anyway but I saw the whole lot of them before the game in the crowd.

“That was a special moment. Just to have them here, they’ve supported me so much and done a lot for me.”

Looking forward, Ireland’s focus must now shift to the play-offs. Crucially, they have a seeded place and will discover their fate after Friday’s draw.

“The play-offs is the goal that’s in mind,” says O’Sullivan. “That’s where we’re looking to and we want to be seeded going into those play-offs. This win will really stand to us so we’re really looking forward to that and whoever we get, we’ll go out and focus on ourselves again and we’ll take the positives from this campaign.”

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