Diane Caldwell has landed in America with a spring in her step, ahead of Republic of Ireland’s match with the USA. Having parted company with Norwegian side Avaladsnes, she signed for German top flight club Koln.
After the weekend’s transfer, she then flew to London on Monday to link up with the rest of the Republic of Ireland squad prior to yesterday’s flight to Los Angeles and admitted on arrival in San Diego that the last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind.
“I had my medical on Saturday and signed afterwards and then on Sunday I played in a friendly against Borussia Monchengladbach. We won 4-0 and I scored which was a nice start to my FC Koln career,” said Caldwell, who is expected to fill a defensive midfield position at the German club.
“I am really excited. It was always one of my ambitions to play in Germany so I am looking forward to it. It’s a big club. Obviously the men’s club is massive while on the women’s side they got into Bundesliga this year. They are currently sitting near the bottom but it quite close between themselves and a few other teams in the survival race. They wanted to strengthen their team for the second half of the campaign by bringing in some players so hopefully I can help them stay in the top division.”
Although only 27, Caldwell has been a bit of a globetrotter having played in Ireland, USA, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and now Germany but she is at pains to point out that she isn’t chasing stamps on her passport.
“I have racked up quite a few countries at this stage in my career but it has always been about playing and bettering myself. If that involves travelling then it involves travelling but my focus has always been about challenging myself in different leagues and taking steps forward in my career.”
She admits that the prospect of playing in one of the top leagues in the world genuinely excites and finds it hard to stop smiling as she thinks of the teams and players she will be facing when the Bundesliga resumes in February.
“They have a lot of the best players in the world playing in their league and some of the top teams as well so it going to be a big challenge for myself but I am looking forward to seeing how I deal with it and I how I match up against the best teams and the best players in the world.”
Before she returns to Germany there is the small matter of taking on the newly crowned World Champions USA in their San Diego backyard on Saturday and Caldwell, who missed last year’s game in San Jose because of club commitments, is relishing it.
“It’s great being in this week with the girls and obviously it is always a big occasion when you are playing the United States so I am really looking forward to it,” she said before stressing that Ireland’s EURO 2017 is far from over after just three games.
“The mood is great within the team. We are very positive because there are still a lot of games to play and a long way to go. We are quietly confident because we are getting better all the time as a team. There is no lack of confidence there. We know we have to do the job as a team this coming year We have a lot of important games where we have to pick up results and it is down to us, simple as that.”
Saturday’s game against USA is being shown live on Setanta Ireland. Kick-off is 10.30pm.
Source / Photos – fai.ie
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