Eoin Harrington reporting from Metz
Metz is a quaint city in terms of its relationship to football.
Though they have yo-yo'd up and down to Ligue 2 in recent years and sit in the relegation zone currently, FC Metz have, for most of their history, been regulars in Ligue 1. Yet they have never won it.
The club has seen an eye-catching collection of once and future greats of French football pass through. Franck Ribéry is one. Robert Pires another. Sylvain Wiltord, Louis Saha and Patrick Battiston to name but a few more. Yet they seldom have the French national team come to town.
In fact, in the 101 years since the Stade Saint-Symphorien opened, only three times has a senior French side played in front of fans in the city (the WNT played behind closed doors twice in 2021). On Friday night that number will become four, with the WNT playing a competitive game in the city for the first time.
On paper, perhaps the only people for whom this will be a more significant occasion than it will be for the people of Metz are the team that France will face in the Saint-Symphorien - Eileen Gleeson's Ireland.
For Ireland, this is subtly their biggest test yet as a footballing nation, and we will learn much about where they belong in the game on Friday night.
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Biggest test of mettle yet for Eileen Gleeson and Ireland WNT
Yes, Ireland did face France less than a year ago in a pre-World Cup friendly. But, in the interim, they have played at a major tournament for the first time, and romped to top spot in a Nations League group where they were, admittedly, the strongest team by some margin.
Even if the repeated margins of four goals or more that Ireland enjoyed during that Nations League campaign are highly unlikely to continue now that they have taken the step up, the fact that they now reside in League A is on merit, and they will be out to prove that they are there to stay.
On the ground in Metz on Thursday, the mood was good. Nobody is under any illusions as to how difficult the task will be for Ireland in this group to end all groups but, equally, nobody is ready to lie down and accept a fourth-place finish. There is a genuine determination from all involved to prove that Ireland belong at this level.
4 April 2024; Head coach Eileen Gleeson and Caitlin Hayes during a Republic of Ireland Women's training session at Stage Saint-Symphorien in Metz, France. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Speaking to Eileen Gleeson yesterday, one could sense the excitement tempered by calm which she referred to when asked how Ireland would approach this campaign.
After facing France (3rd in the world rankings) on Friday, Gleeson's Ireland will host England (European champions) on Tuesday in Dublin. World Cup bronze-medallists Sweden also await Ireland in a group whose difficulty is of historic proportions.
But Ireland are prepared to be patient and play to their strengths, says Gleeson:
Realistically, we will more than likely be without the ball more than we are with the ball. We have to focus on being solid and comfortable to be without the ball, and not to be concerned about what perceptions are around that.
Being out of possession is part of the game and, this particular campaign, we’ll probably be without the ball more than we will be with the ball. Being really solid in those structures, being calm and then taking our moments in transition.
The window of international friendlies earlier this year which saw Ireland draw in Florence before stumbling to a poor home defeat against Wales may have tempered expectations somewhat for fans after the highs of the Nations League campaign and World Cup drive. That may not be a bad thing.
After all, this will be an immense challenge for Ireland and, though they appear to be ready to sit at football's top table, they will have to weather the early storm if they are to prove themselves worthy. Going in with reasonable expectations does not equate to lacking confidence in this team. They are on a journey and on the right path - but we cannot expect them to be there just yet.
In any case, the squad which endured that mixed February window is subtly a very different one to that which arrived in Metz on Wednesday (via the circuitous Luxembourg stop-off the travelling Irish press became accustomed to earlier that day).
Tyler Toland, Sinead Farrelly, and Denise O'Sullivan were all missing through injury, leaving a massive gap in the midfield. Louise Quinn was only fit enough to play 45 minutes of the entire window. Toland, O'Sullivan and Quinn are back for the first two EURO qualifiers, a massive boost for Eileen Gleeson.
Aston Villa defender Anna Patten has also been poached from England, with Gleeson saying on Thursday that the 24-year-old has been a superb addition to the playing group.
4 April 2024; Denise O'Sullivan during a Republic of Ireland Women's media conference at Stage Saint-Symphorien in Metz, France. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
O'Sullivan's return is the most exciting from an Irish perspective, and she was in good spirits on Thursday as preparations ramped up for Friday's game. She laughed that she found being on the sidelines in February "stressful," but one does get the sense that there was (obviously) only so much humour in that sentiment.
Though the Corkwoman accepted the leap from League B was a big one, she was determined for Ireland to back up their own confidence that they belong alongside their opponents:
It’s gonna be a massive difference. We did well in the League B, we got what we needed.
We want to be here, we want to be playing against the top teams in the world - but it’s going to be a massive challenge, we’re going to have to take a different approach.
We’re going to have to be organised, we have to be difficult to beat, and then we have to take our opportunities when we get them.
Despite this being a historically rare visit to Metz for a French national team, the mood is relatively cool on the French side towards the game.
Around 18,00 fans are expected in the 30,000-seater capacity stadium on Friday night and, bar a few advertisements on the sides of buses or street boards, there is little around the centre of the town to suggest any major activity in the Saint-Symphorien.
But those involved in the French camp are not taking the threat of the Irish team lightly. France manager Hervé Renard, for one, is clearly aware of the Irish footballing landscape.
Hervé Renard was asked today whether he had been approached by the FAI to take over as head coach when he leaves the France WNT this summer👀
Renard said he has had no contact from the FAI, and would be answering no further questions on his future 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/9ky55iPHpl— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) April 4, 2024
Not only did he chuckle while firmly shutting down any suggestion he would take over as coach of the men's team, he displayed a clear understanding that the team that lines out in Metz will be a very different one to that which his side faced in Tallaght last July.
On that occasion, Ireland could have been 1-0 up early on but ultimately wilted in the face of immense French pressure, and fell to a comfortable 3-0 loss. Though France will be strong favourites on home soil on Friday night, there is reason to hope that the game will be far closer than that July evening.
Lyon star Delphine Cascarino - of no relation to Tony, though perhaps no less Irish - was also put in front of the media on Thursday, and batted away the traditional question from the opposing media as to whether the Ireland side have a "British" identity.
I won’t say that they have a “British identity,” even with players playing in British championships. They have their own identity and I think tomorrow will be a good game.
She'll have endeared herself to more than a few Irish fans with that answer.
So, where do we stand? What to expect? How high should we aim, how low should we be comfortable in accepting we may fall during this, set up to an arduous and challenging campaign.
The truth is that Ireland are immense underdogs in this group, regardless of how much their level has climbed even in the ten months since they last took on France.
It is not a slight on Ireland to say as much - their three opponents made up three of the last four at EURO 2022, and all reached the quarter-finals of last year's World Cup. It would frankly be unfair to expect a team operating at this level for the first time to challenge in this group.
But there is a sense that Ireland are ready to - at the very least - test themselves at this level. Eileen Gleeson spoke last week of the historic tendency for Irish international teams to punch above their weight, and we've seen it in the past few years with brilliant results against Australia, Finland, and none other than Sweden.
This Beatles-addicted author brought Shout! - Philip Norman's excellent biography on the lives and careers of the band - along for reading on this trip to Metz.
In the book, Norman recounts a stage in the Fab Four's career after their infamous expeditions to Hamburg but before the arrival of their soon-to-be influential manager Brian Epstein. A state of limbo. All four waiting for something to happen, knowing that Hamburg had proven to them that they had the chops to make it - but they needed something concrete to show everyone else they belonged there.
There is a similar feeling hanging over the Irish team. They've proven to themselves and all their supporters that they are ready to take the leap to this level. The next test now is whether they are ready to stay there. Friday night is a daunting yet thrilling first opportunity to test that.
Fingers crossed.
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