Women’s trio set for Euro championships

The girls who have been involved in the Northern Ireland set up for a few years spoke of their pride at being picked for the squad.

Kendra, who has captained the Under 19 team told the Sentinel: “It is an absolute privilege and honour to represent our country. We will be facing the elite of Europe and it will be a very difficult challenge. Germany are probably the best and Sweden are also very good plus they have home advantage. It will be tough but we have a great squad and our preparations have been good.”

The Northern Ireland Ladies Under 19’s have qualified to this stage for the first time. They played last September in Belgium and successfully negotiated their way past Lithuania, Belgium and Romania.

Northern Ireland will play their first game against the hosts Sweden next Saturday at Behrn Stadium in Orebro and Thornhill College student, Laura Nicholas is looking forward to the challenge ahead. Laura is one of the youngest members of the squad at just 17 and she said: “The first two games are going to be very difficult. We play the hosts, Sweden and then two days later we play probably the best team in the group, Germany. It’s a big test but we are a young team and we are full of confidence. If we beat either team then it will be a big upset. We will be looking to win the games and hopefully we do ladies football in Northern Ireland proud.”

The A-Level student has heaped praise on her Drumahoe club, YMCA Ladies. Laura believes that the opportunity to play in the Under 19 tournament stems from the YMCA set up. She said: “It’s a great achievement to be picked for Northern Ireland. A lot of hard work goes on at YMCA and it’s a big thanks to both coaches Greg McKeever and Floyd McCarter for helping us to be successful in our football careers.”

“YMCA Ladies has been very successful over the last number of years and its great to be recognised for that by getting international caps.”

19-year-old defender, Chloe Archibald completes the Londonderry line up. Chloe was asked about the preparations ahead of the tournament and she said: “I think it will be a very hectic week. We travel next Thursday and our first game is on Saturday against Sweden. We play three games in the space of six days. We also have training sessions in between so it’s going to be tough both physically and mentally.”

She continued: “It will definitely be all hard work but we know exactly what is expected of us. It was the same format when we qualified in Belgium so everyone of us knows how difficult it is but we also no how enjoyable winning is. That will be our main aim. We are by no means favourites in this group but we will be giving it a real go.”

The girls, who are all close friends are hoping to cause a major shock by qualifying for the final tournament in Turkey to be played in July this year. The ladies all played a part in last weeks impressive away win in Malta. The Northern Ireland team defeated their hosts by 4-1. This was the perfect confidence booster required as the ladies prepare to take on Europe’s best teenage female footballers in Sweden.