Goal hero Sarah McFadden says victory over Italy will serve as extra motivation for new campaign

McFadden scored a 63rd-minute winner to cap a memorable 2022 with a 1-0 friendly win at Seaview.

The Durham striker said she had the belief that Northern Ireland would beat the world number 14-ranked Italians and in the end McFadden’s second-half goal proved enough.

“We were unbelievable tonight and we played so well in the first-half,” McFadden said.

“We said in the changing room we were playing well and we needed to get a goal because we can beat this team.

“That’s what we got in the end, we got over the line and in years previous we might have played well but not got the goal to win. We’re really happy and we were brilliant tonight.

“The last couple of games we played, we didn’t play well and we were afraid we were going backwards, but it just shows what we’re all about,” she added.

“We can move now after the Euros get back on that winning trail.”

McFadden recalled Northern Ireland’s 3-1 defeat against Italy in 2016 and said Shiels’ current side was now a different proposition.

“This morning I just had the belief that we were going to beat them,” she said.

“We played them five years ago and Simone Magill scored a worldy, and we played them off the park then. We’re a better team than we were five years ago and to beat [a team who are] 14th in the world is a really great moment – it’s a moment that will bring us a lot of motivation going into the new campaign.”

McFadden also praised the fans who turned out in force on Tuesday to show their support for the girls in green.

“Any time they come out it’s brilliant and we know they come out in their thousands,” she said.

“We could hear them throughout the game and they kept pushing us on. We just need to keep growing the game and inspiring as many girls as possible because nights like this are moment people remember, and that’s why I play football.”

Manager Shiels said he was confident Northern Ireland would deliver at their home ground after taking inspiration from memories of past successes against major footballing nations.

“It’s almost a given now that we can compete with these teams and we have to keep going,” he said.

“All the memories we have had against big nations have given us a lot of confidence and that’s all we thought about; sell-out crowd, our little home ground and we knew we would get a result.”

McFadden’s winning goal came when she fired the rebound past Italian goalkeeper Laura Giuliani after she had saved an initial effort from Emily Wilson just after the hour mark.

It marked another historic moment for Shiels’ side, who reached their first major finals at this year’s European Championship.

Italy had started strongly with Barbara Bonansea and Manuela Giugliano both having chances, but the hosts gained the momentum after the half-time introduction of Joely Andrews.

McFadden capitalised by sweeping her side in front after 63 minutes, then Jackie Burns produced a brilliant save to deny Beatrice Merlo.