It’s 51 weeks since Marie Therese McDonnell was part of the Republic of Ireland’s National Team squad but MT, as she is better known, is delighted to have linked up again with the group this week ahead of Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Croatia.
A new job as a speech pathologist in a school in America meant that she was unavailable over the past year but when the latest call came in from Sue Ronan she was finally able to say “yes” and delighted to do so.
“It’s nice to be back. It’s always an honour and I love playing for Ireland. I just love pulling the jersey on and it’s been great linking up with all the girls this week,” said McDonnell who qualifies for Ireland through her Mayo-born grandfather and still has plenty of relatives in Foxford and Sligo.
“One of my highlights playing for Ireland was the game against Russia in Wexford back in 2010. Myself and my sister Shannon both played 90 minutes and our whole family was there to see it. That was a very proud moment,” said the 27-year-old who has won 21 caps to date.
Over the past year she has watched from afar as Sue Ronan’s young team put together a string of impressive results and performances but admits to not being surprised by the run over the past 18 months which included an unbeaten seven game spell in the middle.
“It’s great to see the team emerging. There is a lot of great talent within it and it was heart-breaking they didn’t get the result they deserved against Germany.
“We need now to push on from the recent games against Russia and Germany. It was disappointing to lose both but the challenge now is to learn from those defeats. Saturday’s game is important for us especially as it marks the start of the second half of the campaign.”
The Chicago-based player, who admits she is equally at home in defence or midfield, was part of the Ireland team that drew 2-2 with Austria in a friendly at Tallaght Stadium 12 months ago and is looking forward to returning to Dublin 24 on Saturday.
“I like the stadium. It’s got a good pitch and it’s nice we now have a ground we can call our home field,” said McDonnell.
The FIFA World Cup qualifier against Croatia will take place at Tallaght Stadium on Saturday, June 14, with a 6pm kick-off. Admission is €5 for adults and €2 for students/U16s.
Photo – fai.ie
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