NI v Denmark(20/11/2023)

PRESIDENT’S WELCOME

Good evening and welcome to the players, officials and supporters of Denmark. And, naturally, I also extend a warm welcome to all our fans. A big thank-you to those of you who travelled to Helsinki and wrapped up warm to support the team.

Tonight will bring what has been a disappointing UEFA Euro 2024 qualification campaign for us to a close. To paraphrase Michael O’Neill, it has been a most challenging set of fixtures this year. Managers don’t like using injuries as an excuse for not being able to reach the heights expected, however there’s no doubt the absence of numerous senior players at various stages has hampered our team’s progress. Having said that, I concur with the manager that we have lots of young talent in our midst and that should give us optimism for the future. We need to nurture that talent and plan ahead for the next campaign. My congratulations go to George Saville on reaching the 50-cap milestone against Finland on Friday. He joins an elite band of 42 players who have achieved that feat. George has been a solid performer for us since first donning the green shirt back in 2017. In our game away to Denmark back in June we played well in spells but one of our potential stars of the future, Callum Marshall, was cruelly denied a goal on his senior debut by a VAR decision that looked somewhat dubious. Denmark will be in celebratory mood tonight. They secured their place at the UEFA Euro 2024 final tournament in Germany next summer with a 2-1 victory over Slovenia in Copenhagen on Friday. The Danish were the favourites to win Group H before a ball was kicked – and they lived up to that billing.

Their success at the Parken Stadium on Friday was their seventh win in nine group matches. They have only suffered one defeat in amassing 22 points to date. I congratulate Denmark on making it to the European Championship finals next year and hope they do well in the tournament. The second qualification place in Group H will be decided tonight when Slovenia (19 points) take on Kazahkstan (18 points) at Stadion Stozice in Ljubljana. A win or draw will be enough for the Slovenians, while Kazakhstan must win the game. Even if the result goes against them, the Kazahks will still get another crack at reaching next year’s Euros as they have already guaranteed a play-off spot for Euro 2024 through the UEFA Nations League. Denmark need a point in Belfast to ensure they finish top of the group so I can’t see them taking their foot off the gas at all. They will want to add to their overall points tally. For our part it’s only pride that our team are playing for, however anything is possible at home. Let’s hope we can produce a good performance in Belfast tonight and finish our qualification campaign on a high. Thanks again for your unwavering support through a difficult campaign and let’s cheer on the players towards better days. CONRAD KIRKWOOD PRESIDENT IRISH FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

IRISHFA.COM

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