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17th July 2024
10:53am BST
The Republic of Ireland pulled off a shock win against the second-best team in the world as they beat France 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Goals from Cork local Julie-Ann Russell and Anna Patten were enough to pull off a famous win at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in front of almost 19,000 spectators.
Denise O’Sullivan buried her low shot home on 66 minutes, followed nine minutes later with a wonderful strike from Ann Russell.
Vicki Bècho had halved the deficit but Patten made sure of the win as Ireland became only the third team alongside Spain and England to beat the French in their past 19 matches.
Eileen Gleeson's side have now qualified for the Euro 2025 play-offs in October where they will look to book their place in next year's tournament.
France clearly felt that they would be the favourites coming into the game and Hervé Renard decided to overhaul his squad, making 11 changes for the visit to Cork.
Regardless of the changes, any win over one of the best teams in the world is no mean feat for Ireland however O'Sullivan admitted that it did feel like a bit of an insult to see such a rotated French squad.
"It was probably an insult to us that France made 11 changes, and they underestimated us," O'Sullivan said.
"We definitely shocked them."
O'Sullivan also added that she would love to see more games played at Cork after their triumphant return to Leeside.
She added: "I grew up in this city. The city has done a lot for me, so to play here in Cork is phenomenal.
"I think we should be playing here more often, (the games) should be a bit more spread out.
"The fans were amazing. There was 18,000 there but it sounded like there was a lot more because they just never stopped. It gave me a lot of energy, they've been fantastic.
"To do it in front of my family… my partner is over from America as well and it's his birthday, so to get a goal for him on his birthday was very special. I’m absolutely buzzing."
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