If there is one thing Claire O’Riordan knows for certain after two years in the Frauen-Bundesliga, it’s that women’s football in Germany is on a whole other level than it is in Ireland, writes Stephen McGovern of The Football Faithful.
“I could see that plain as day when I came over to my club, because the clubs here have the structures in place,” O'Riordan says.
“They don't have to compete with national sports like camogie or ladies Gaelic football or rugby or anything like that. Football is the prime sport over here. They don't have that difficulty of getting players to just train football, that obviously we would have in Ireland.”
Germany have produced more Uefa Women’s Champions League-winning teams than any other nation, with O’Riordan’s own MSV Duisburg one of nine successful German sides to have claimed the ultimate prize in club football. Their national team have also won eight of the last ten Uefa Women’s Euros, losing just three matches since first qualifying for the tournament in 1989.
This is the ultra-competitive environment in which the Limerick native has forged a career for herself after proving her mettle as a striker for Wexford Youths in the early years of her career.
The Irish international is now a key cog for the Zebras, having played 93 per cent of available minutes this season; the most of her entire squad. The biggest challenge, unsurprisingly, was moving from the amateur nature of Ireland’s Women’s National League to the professional arena where football is a full-time job.
“I would have gone from maybe two-to-three training sessions a week and a game at the weekend to training once or twice a day and a game at the weekend, so I needed to adapt to that. But this season I've found that I've handled it and I could increase my load that little bit more. Just the stepping stones to try and improve myself all the time.”
Although some days call for double training sessions, O'Riordan still finds herself in the gym a lot more often these days in order to meet the physical demands of one of Europe’s top leagues. “The physical capabilities of the players over here are really high, they're extremely conditioned and lean; very strong and powerful,” O'Riordan stated.
Most impressive of all, however, has been her transition into a completely new position. Whereas before O'Riordan's job was to break down defences, she is now responsible for keeping one together.
Being a centre-back for Duisburg is a tough assignment, given how poorly the team have performed in recent years, due to financial constraints. O'Riordan admits that she was, in many ways, thankful for the recent break due to the coronavirus outbreak because it gave her a chance to mentally refresh.
“I was really happy at home, because I hadn’t been home for a long time, in years, so it was really good to spend time with the family and see my nieces grow up a little bit,” she says.
Claire O'Riordan of Republic of Ireland in action against Guro Reiten of Norway during the FIFA 2019 Women's World Cup Qualifier match between Norway and Republic of Ireland at the SR-Bank Arena in Stavanger, Norway. Photo by Seb Daly/SportsfileThe team are currently on their best run of form though, even if they did lose Sunday’s match to SC Sand by two-goals-to-nil.
Before the league was suspended, Duisburg earned consecutive draws, including an impressive 2-2 against second-placed Bayern Munich, before beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 in their first game back.
That was followed up with 1-1 draw against fellow strugglers FC Köln - where O'Riordan made a terrific last-ditch clearance - which finished in dramatic circumstances after Duisburg scored a 93rd-minute equaliser. It was a crucial result that ensured Duisburg remain outside the relegation zone for the time being. “That little bit of breathing space is good, because at the moment we’re vying for position with Bayer Leverkusen and Köln,” said O'Riordan.
Unfortunately for O’Riordan and her Ireland teammates, Euro 2021 has been pushed back a year due to the pandemic. The team had been performing well under new manager Vera Pauw, who has so far guided the national side to their best chance of qualifying for a major tournament in years.
O’Riordan says she has found the pandemic challenging to deal with as a footballer, but she is overwhelmingly philosophical about the future, too.
“The positive thing to take from that is we have three big games and hopefully if we can achieve what we've set out to do, which is aiming for that play-off qualification spot, then we'll get that opportunity and have that bit more time to prepare for it.
“Down the road, if we were to achieve it, that would give us more time to come together as a group to be able to train and get more game-time with the coach. Hopefully, we'll be able to get more competitive games to help us prepare for that next game, whether it's going to be a play-off or whatever is in the future,” said O'Riordan.
The game against Ukraine and the two against Germany will determine the fate of the Girls in Green, but right now her only concern is that of her club side. With only four massive games left in the campaign, the Newcastle West woman is ready to fight for top-flight survival.
“(Team) Morale is really good. We're just going to take it one game at a time. We'll just prepare, play, recover, and we'll do the best we can and keep on fighting.”
Written by Stephen McGovern.
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