Mo Marley has revealed that Arsenal’s rising star, Rianna Dean, has a chance of making the UEFA u19 tournament in Northern Ireland this summer but hints that her inexperience might go against her.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Cannon at the UEFA draw at Belfast City Hall on Thursday, Marley admitted England have a tough draw, finding themselves in a group with four-times winners and old rivals, France. Italy and the Netherlands make up the rest of their group.
“It’s tough,” Marley said. “You know, we haven’t qualified for the last championships so we’re really just happy to be here and it gives us a good chance to try and qualify for the world cup. We know how tough it is to qualify now, we appreciate that. So being here now is brilliant.
“It is tough, there’s no way around it but you can’t expect to be the best and want to play on the world stage and have an easy ride. We will be respectful, we’ve all played all the teams in the group stage quite recently as well so we all know a little bit about each but I think the previous results are irrelevant, they were all friendly games so it’s all about who is best prepared when it comes to a major tournament. I think everyone will give each other the same respect.”
With a 24-person squad already announced for the upcoming double-header against the USA in preparation for the tournament, Marley faces a selection dilemma to reduce her squad to just 18 for the showpiece in Northern Ireland.
“We’ve got a large pool now, the way our talent pathway works now we’ve got quite a few of our players that have come through from the u17 team that went to the World Cup,” Marley continued.
“We’ve actually got an u18s team as well back home so we’ve got 24 in this squad but we’ve also got 24 in the u18 squad, so we have a huge pool to pick from so that’s great. That’s not been the case in previous years.
“Of course, it’s going to be difficult reducing that to 18, it’s not an easy task. The squad is strong and the standby girls, anyone of them could come in and maintain the strength of the team right the way through. It’s the strongest squad we’ve had in a long time.”
Dean has been named in the 24-person squad for the USA games, but will she make the cut for the tournament? Marley admitted that it’s tough, but that she does have a chance. “That depends on what happens in the next camp really.
“Anyone of those players could be selected and [we’ve] more at home. Obviously, we’ve went for a little bit of experience with the 24 proven that they’ve played in tournaments. It’s a little bit harder for the 98 borns because in the past we’ve had the bye with the coeffecient so they don’t actually get a lot of tournament exposure.
“It’s all friendly-based competition, so there’s lots of factors that we consider and the girls have been fantastic this year. The build-up this year, how we’ve prepared for this tournament has probably surpassed all expectations. We’ve played well, the performances have been good and I think it’s the hardest year for me as a coach to actually pick the right team. It has got to be the right team at this moment in time for the group to be able to compete at this level.”
With Germany, Spain, Scotland and Northern Ireland in the other group, should England make it out of theirs, they will likely have to beat the favourites to win it. But winning the tournament isn’t quite their main goal – that’s sealing qualification for the World Cup. In odd-numbered years the competition acts as a qualifier for the following year’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
“Of course [we want to win it],” Marley said.
“Nadine [Kessler] said it before, it’s nice to win it. We’ve won it once before a long time ago and I think it’s almost that long ago it’s kind of forgotten. I think it’s important we refresh what we’re trying to do.
“I think our first objective, and I’m sure it’s the same for everybody, is to qualify for the World Cup. That’s the first priority and that’s always been the first priority from the start of the season.
“Once we’ve taken care of that, if that’s the case then the next stage is to try and win [the tournament] and it’s the players that have set those objectives, not me as a coach.
“That’s what they feel they are capable of and that’s how they feel at this moment in time.”
Draw in full:
8 August
Scotland v Germany
National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, Belfast
15:00
Northern Ireland v Spain
National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, Belfast
19:00
Italy v England
Mourneview Park, Lurgan
15:00
France v Netherlands
Ballymena Showgrounds
15:00
11 August
Italy v France
National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, Belfast
15:00
Netherlands v England
National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, Belfast
19:00
Germany v Spain
Shamrock Park, Portadown
15:00
Northern Ireland v Scotland
Mourneview Park, Lurgan
19:00
14 August
Netherlands v Italy
Shamrock Park, Portadown
15:00
England v France
Ballymena Showgrounds
15:00
Spain v Scotland
Mourneview Park, Lurgan
19:00
Northern Ireland v Germany
Ballymena Showgrounds
19:00
17 August
Semi-Final 1 – Winners of Group A v Runners-up Group B
National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, Belfast
15:00
Semi-Final 2 – Winners of Group B v Runners-up Group A
National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, Belfast
19:00
20 August
Final
National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, Belfast
19.30