Kenny Shiels welcomes friendly clash with England's Lionesses

Northern Ireland’s senior women’s team will play England later this month as part of their preparations for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 play-offs in April.
By Steven Crawford
Published 4th Feb 2021, 15:21 BST
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The match will be behind closed doors at St George’s Park, the FA’s National Football Centre, on Tuesday 23 February and will be the first meeting between the two countries since 2008.

Senior women’s team manager Kenny Shiels said the match against Lionesses will be ‘brilliant’ for his team.

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He said: “This is a brilliant fixture and a great opportunity for the girls to experience. It's one we look forward to.

The Northern Ireland Women's team celebrate reaching the EURO 2022 play-offsThe Northern Ireland Women's team celebrate reaching the EURO 2022 play-offs
The Northern Ireland Women's team celebrate reaching the EURO 2022 play-offs

“England have some of the best players in the world and rank right up beside USA, Germany, Netherlands and Norway as the best women’s teams in the world.”

Shiels will be pitting his wits against Hege Riise, England’s new interim head coach, who took over from Phil Neville last month and will pave the way for Netherlands boss Sarina Wiegman to take the reins in September ahead of UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 in England next summer.

Norwegian Riise was an Olympic, World Cup and European Championship winner during a playing career that saw her score 58 goals in 188 internationals.

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Northern Ireland’s four wins on the trot in qualifiers in the latter part of 2020 booked their place in those play-offs, the draw for which will be made on 5 March after all qualifiers have been completed. The play-offs, currently scheduled to be played over two legs, are set to be staged in early April.

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Related topics:EnglandHege Riise