Milton and Ireland ready for U17 Euro Qualifiers
Ciara Milton and the Republic of Ireland U17s begin their UEFA European Women’s Championship Round 1 Qualifiers in Frankfurt Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Ciara Milton is part of the Ireland Women’s U17’s squad UEFA European WU17 Championship Round 1 Qualifiers against France in Frankfurt today.
The Killeshin youngster plays a year out of her age so this will mark Mitlon’s first competitive international experience having previously played friendlies with the GU16’s and GU15’s. Speaking before Ciara left for Germany, her mother Sinead said that the talented forward is looking forward to a challenging week ahead when Ireland will also play Belgium and hosts Germany.
“She’s very excited. She is over the moon, firstly, to be selected. And a year out of her age as well, as you know. She's delighted, but she does take it in her stride. There's no nerves, just excitement. She'll probably be nervous before the games. Exciting times though. It is. She's very lucky. They're great old pals heading out.”
Having previously competed in a tournament in Italy a few weeks ago, this will be Milton’s just second international camp with the U17’s.
“They had to trial, like they always do. They go in for a trial and then they get selected for a squad. And each squad, you know you're not ever guaranteed that you'd be in the squad, you just have to wait and get the email for the call and then from there you can celebrate but you never know like there's lots who are in and then not in and so you never take it for granted. This would be the first competitive camp where they will want to win every match and put their best team out and you know if you get minutes you get minutes, if you don't you're supporting your team and you're in training with them which is still a privilege. It'll really matter, and they'll be really assessed on every performance and they have to be at their best at training and they pick their squads off the training sessions.”
Milton was also part of the Shamrock Rovers team that won the WU17’s Cup last week. Her mother said it was a fantastic achievement for the youngster in her debut season.
“Oh yeah, it was great. They were absolutely delighted with that. You know, and Cork City are very good, very competitive, and I think all the teams come out to beat Rovers. She was playing on the wing a little bit and she went in striker then halfway through, and they had rolling subs. She came off then and went back on again for the last 10 minutes. She's delighted, actually. Normally the 09’s who would be this is their last few games at this level, obviously they deserve to be getting the starts before they move on so it’s great that she’s getting a shot.”
| France v Ireland, DFB Campus, Frankfurt, KO 16:00
| Belgium v Ireland, DFB Campus, Frankfurt, KO 15:30
| Ireland v Germany, DFB Campus, Frankfurt, KO 12:00
