Northern Ireland manager Michael McArdle has promised his side will take “one last swing” at reaching a first Women’s World Cup as they attempt to overturn a four-goal deficit against Portugal in Tuesday’s play-off second leg.
Portugal, who went into the tie as favourites, took control of the first leg at Inver Park on Friday night. Telma Encarnação struck an early opener in Larne, Jessica Silva doubled the lead and Rebecca Holloway’s own goal put the visitors three goals up inside the opening half-hour.
Northern Ireland improved after the restart and looked the better side following Catarina Amado’s red card, but could not find the goal their pressure deserved, and Portugal added a fourth through Fátima Pinto’s speculative long-range effort.
The result left McArdle describing his side’s hopes of a first World Cup appearance as having gone from “improbable to impossible”. Speaking in Portugal ahead of the second leg, however, the 48-year-old said a strong start could turn the momentum back in his team’s favour.
“We’re always positive, and from that perspective it’s another opportunity for us to learn and put ourselves toe-to-toe with them,” McArdle said. “Who knows what the game throws up tomorrow night. If we end up in front first or how the game goes, it could turn back from impossible to improbable again, and go in the other direction.”
McArdle handed debuts to Linfield defender Jane McMaster, Sparta Prague forward Kess Elmore, who made a lively appearance off the bench, and 16-year-old Cliftonville midfielder Charlotte Havern. Aside from striker Cora Chambers, who was sent off in the closing stages on Friday, Northern Ireland have a full complement of players to pick from for the second leg.
The manager identified clear areas for improvement. He pointed to the way Portugal exploited the gaps between Northern Ireland’s centre-backs and an inexperienced full-back pairing of McMaster and 19-year-old Emily Cassap, and to his own side’s failure to convert their pressure into goals.
“The immediate reflection was misfortune with the scoreline, and how it was a bit harsh,” he said. “Reflection-wise we still feel that way, however there’s areas that we need to improve upon before the game. There were some positives but obviously the scoreline is the scoreline.”
Even a remarkable turnaround in Portimão would leave Northern Ireland facing an uphill task to reach a first World Cup. Iceland, 4-0 up against Croatia after their first leg, would likely be the second-round play-off opponents, and Northern Ireland would probably then face an additional inter-confederation play-off because of their Uefa ranking.
McArdle, though, is looking beyond the current campaign. The manager, who took over in March, said he has seen “lots of progress” in his six months in charge and expects that to continue as he gets to know his squad, with qualification for the Euros the next priority after Tuesday.
“You’ve seen that with the new players, the amount of debutants and the amount of youth players that come into the squad over the three camps I’ve been involved now,” he said. “We’re now in a really strong place, and from the next window onwards we’ll start to prepare and focus on trying to qualify for the Euros. That’ll be the most important piece after Tuesday, but we’ll have one last swing and see where it goes.”
The second leg takes place on Tuesday, 13 October, with kick-off at 19:00 BST, and is being shown on BBC iPlayer.