Eoin Harrington reporting from the EA Sports Women's Football Summit in London.
Aston Villa and France star Kenza Dali has summed up the scale of the recent achievement by Ireland's women's team in reaching the World Cup for the first time, and said that the potential impact on the women's game in Ireland could be huge.
Dali spoke to Balls at this week's EA Sports Women's Football Summit in London. The summit saw several other giants of the game in attendance, including FIFA 23 cover star Sam Kerr, as well as Lauren James, Fran Kirby, Karen Carney, and EA developers.
At the summit, the major announcement was made of the addition of the UEFA Women's Champions League to FIFA 23 from early 2023.
Dali spoke to us about the addition of women's club football to the game - as well as commenting on the recent success of the Ireland national team.
Kenza Dali hails massive Ireland WNT achievement
Kenza Dali has been playing in the WSL for three years now, moving from West Ham to Everton and, then, just this summer, to Aston Villa. All three clubs have been added to FIFA 23 as part of the drive to include women's club teams on the game, and Dali spoke to us about the potential impact this could have on young footballers:
I think this is amazing, you know. For a few years in the previous FIFA, I was on the international team, we were in the game but not really if that makes sense. I just think this is amazing now that we can play with our club, it will make things so much more intense.
I am a bit jealous of the younger generation. I would love 10 years ago having my chance just to play as a woman, it is powerful and really amazing. I would love to do that. I think it is important just to have one modern face in innovation, if that makes sense.
I started playing football because I loved Ronaldinho at five, six I was a big fan but I wasn’t able to follow him. I loved him but I wasn;’t able to be like him because I was a woman, I am girl. And now like. When you see the skills on FIFA - 'I am like I can do that too!'
It shows how far we have come. It is amazing. It is a video game all the same, but it means a lot I think.
Dali signed for Aston Villa this summer, where Irish international Ruesha Littlejohn is also playing - though Littlejohn remains sidelined by injury.
French star Kenza Dali at the EA Sports Women's Football Summit (Photo: EA Sports)
During her previous spells with Everton and West Ham, Dali also played alongside Courtney Brosnan, who played such a vital role in Ireland's World Cup play-off win against Scotland earlier this month.
Dali said she had been watching Brosnan closely, and was thrilled to see the young Irish goalkeeper garnering such deserved praise:
I had a few teammates in the game, and had a few friends on either side.
I am really good friends with Court, but I have Scottish friends too, so I was really torn during this game.
I am really not surprised at the level of Courtney. To be honest, I played with her in West Ham and Everton and she didn’t have the chance to be the number one all the time. But I think she deserved it, she earned it. She works hard and she is just an amazing human being, amazing person. All the time, positive and all the time, working hard. I was really, really happy for her.
Above all, however, Dali hailed the importance of World Cup qualification for the younger generation.
The entire event in London was a celebration of women's football - a phrase Dali is tired of hearing, saying she just wants to talk about "football" - and the power of representation for young women watching the sport. She summed up what Ireland could gain long-term from being at next year's competition in Australia and New Zealand:
I watched the game [between Scotland and Ireland] and I was happy for both, I didn’t have a favourite one but I think it is amazing for Ireland because this is the first qualification and you are always going to remember this moment in your life.
This is massive, and I think it will improve the visibility of the game in Ireland, and I think this is important. The game grows through your national team, I have seen this in France. If the national team is doing well, you will have more visibility.
So, I think for Ireland, this is amazing and this is a big step for history. So hopefully, they will do really well in the World Cup next year.
Kenza Dali was part of the French squad for the European Championships this summer passed in England, as they came within one game of the final at Wembley.
Dali has no regrets, but says that Germany appeared to "play the final" in their semi-final clash with France. Alexandra Popp, who was influential in that semi clash, missed the final with England, and Dali also said she would have been intrigued to see how Germany would have faired if their star player was available for the Euros decider.
With all three above teams joining a long list of contenders for next year's World Cup, it's looking more open than ever - something which Dali says could present opportunities:
Before the Euros, people were saying that about Germany, saying “oh, it’s a new side with a lot of new faces” – if you watch their team, it’s quite young. Their wingers are so young.
I don’t believe that the USA is a new team, they’re going to be different – the USA have a competition mode. They just turn on in competition. I’ve played USA quite a lot. Before the competition, we always won, we never win against them during a big tournament.
I think the difference between the USA and us is not the individual quality – it’s just about this mentality, winning mentality. To beat USA in a big tournament, you have to be on top of the park mentally first.
It’s a really open World Cup. Before the Euros I couldn’t bet on a team – if I say “tell me who will win”, you couldn’t say “England will win it for sure.” Impossible. You had Spain, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, France, England…teams like this, and the World Cup is the same.
You always have a surprise during the tournament, and you have USA, Brazil. The level in the Euros was really high, and bringing that again is going to be harder. It’s a really open one, I can’t say who’s going to win.
It's set to be the most open World Cup in years, with several teams in with a shot of winning.
Kenza Dali will be hoping that France can go at least one step further than they did at this summer's European Championships, and reach the final down under.
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