Injury heartaches give returning Jess Ziu perspective

Jess Ziu knew as soon as Jamie Finn hit the turf in Republic of Ireland training last week that the injury was serious.

In October 2022, Ziu suffered an ACL injury in action for West Ham against London City Lionesses. She recognised the signs, and the signs weren't good. Sure enough, it was soon confirmed that Finn had torn her anterior cruciate ligament, joining a lengthy list of Ireland players who have endured the same fate.

"I think to be honest, as soon as she went down, you knew straight away," said Ziu, who made her first start for Ireland in 17 months against Italy on Friday evening.

"You can tell the way a player goes down, and I was gutted for her. But Jamie is probably one of the most resilient players I've worked with, she’s such a hard worker. I don’t think she’ll struggle one bit with her rehab, I think she’ll fly through it and she’ll be back as soon as possible."

Former Shels talent Ziu had a strong game on her international return in Florence. Versatile and intelligent, she looks tailor-made for Eileen Gleeson's more expansive approach, and can expect plenty of more opportunities in the next six months as the Girls in Green chase qualification for Euro 2025.

"It's been a long 17 months but it's good to be back with all the girls."

"I'm not going to lie, it was quite overwhelming," said the 21-year-old when reflecting on her return to the fold.

"I'd a few nerves leading up to it because [there's] a lot of new staff, and a lot of new faces in the team. But luckily I had a few girls I’m quite close with: Izzy [Atkinson], Larko [Abbie Larkin], they all kind of helped me and the staff were so nice. Eilo was great with me.

"It’s good being back in, it also doesn’t feel like I’ve been out for 17 months, and the same