IRELAND CENTURION NIAMH Fahey has been ruled out of the opening Euro 2025 qualifiers against France and England with a calf injury.
The Liverpool captain travelled to Dublin to be assessed by the Irish medical team yesterday, but has since departed the set-up with no player called up as a replacement.
Fahey was named in Eileen Gleeson’s squad last Thursday but soon emerged as a major doubt for France in Metz on Friday, and England at the Aviva Stadium next Tuesday.
At a club press conference which coincided with the Ireland squad announcement, Liverpool manager Matt Beard said that the 36-year-old would be “out for a few weeks” with a calf injury.
Put to Gleeson by The 42, the Irish head coach said: “Niamh has been receiving some medical scans on the calf. We’re in constant touch with the club.
“We have decided to bring her in and assess her with us and see whether it is a longer-term view to the second game against England. At the moment, we have her in the squad and we can update further then once we get to have that assessment. The conversations are ongoing with the club.”
As expected, Fahey missed Liverpool’s 4-1 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.
The FAI confirmed a calf strain in a statement this morning.
The Galway native has struggled with calf injuries since early 2023. She did not feature from the World Cup to the February friendly against Italy, in which she turned in a Player of the Match performance. She was a late withdrawal from the Wales clash after aggravating her quad in the warm-up.
Fahey’s fellow centre-back Anna Patten received international clearance yesterday, and should make her Ireland debut in the coming days.
Ireland squad
Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Grace Moloney (London City Lionesses), Sophie Whitehouse (Lewes).
Defenders: Jessie Stapleton (Reading – on loan from West Ham United), Diane Caldwell (FC Zurich), Louise Quinn (Birmingham City), Aoife Mannion (Manchester United), Caitlin Hayes (Celtic), Anna Patten (Aston Villa), Megan Campbell (London City Lionesses).
Midfielders: Katie McCabe (Arsenal), Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Megan Connolly (Bristol City), Ruesha Littlejohn (London City Lionesses), Tyler Toland (Blackburn Rovers), Lily Agg (Birmingham City), Heather Payne (Everton), Jess Ziu (West Ham United), Lucy Quinn (Birmingham City), Izzy Atkinson (Crystal Palace).
Forwards: Kyra Carusa (San Diego Wave), Abbie Larkin (Crystal Palace), Amber Barrett (Standard Liege), Leanne Kiernan (Liverpool), Emily Murphy (Wake Forest University).
Fixtures
- France v Ireland, Friday 5 April, Saint-Smyphorien Stadium, Metz, 8.10pm Irish time, RTÉ 2.
- Ireland v England, Tuesday 9 April, Aviva Stadium, 7.30pm, RTÉ 2.
Celtic are just not clinical enough at this level. It’s an issue domestically also but they can get away with it.
The amount of chances they are creating and only having two goals to show for it are criminal.
There wasn’t much between the sides for large parts of the game but Leipzig took their chances well.
@Ciarán Rice: While I agree with you on the clinical edge side, I think it’s hard to say there wasn’t much between the sides tonight. Jota, Kyogo, and Hatate had their odd half moments.. maybe Taylor too. Likes of Nkunku and Szoboszlai tore it up tho and Simakan, who isn’t even a natural right-full, ran Celtic ragged up their left flank which was justified by his assist. Most of Celtic’s chances just fell to them when RB were sloppy coming out from the back and the press worked well.
Wasn’t up for RB either, would have happily enjoyed Celtic winning had they done so. Record away to German opposition is poor tho so I kinda knew what to expect… 14 without a win in EC/UCL history. Game in Parkhead will be interesting tho!
@Ultan Corcoran: the first half there was nothing between the sides. The stats point to that also. Pretty much 50/50 in possession and think Celtic slightly edged the amount of chances in the first.
The second half however, was poor from Celtic when McGregor went off injured. It was 1-1 at that point and still fairly balanced. Once he was subbed Celtic completely gave up the midfield.
Think you’re dismissing Celtics pressing stating that it was poor play from Leipzig at the back. Celtic deliberately forced Leipzig into the those errors. That’s the game they play. Leipzig, of course, did similar to Celtic.
By ‘dented’ you mean ‘over’?
@David Lawlor:
Why would you think they are over? Two winnable games to come at home. RM will be already through.
Not over yet as two home wins would really set it up travelling to Madrid who would already be qualified presumably, wishful thinking but could 7pts qualify them maybe, just maybe
@Noel Doherty: it’s over. They haven’t a chance of qualifying.
@Stephen Foster: I think you’ll find they still have a chance of going through. To say they have no chance proves how thick you really are.
Uphill battle from here on , it could have been a bit different if Celtic had a finisher in the team , Carter vickers was a loss also .
@Tricksy: completely agree. Losing our two centre backs it was always going to be difficult but the game was evenly matched. Then McGregor went off injured and Celtic completely lost the midfield.
As much as Kyogo is a brilliant player, he’s not a top class finisher. Giakoumakis is a brilliant finisher but isn’t as good a player as Kyogo and doesn’t really suit the system. Major issues up front.