'Iron sharpens iron' - Kyra Carusa ready to face the big guns

Kyra Carusa would be forgiven for having some trepidation ahead of this week's Euro 2025 qualifiers against France and England.

Squaring up to two of the best teams in the world won't be easy - a physical and mental challenge several notches higher than what the Girls in Green encountered during the successful UEFA Nations League campaign.

But the feeling among the squad is one of excitement. Having tasted the big time at last summer's World Cup in Australia, Ireland are ravenously hungry for more. And that means having to take on the elite.

"These are the games you want to be playing in and the positions you want to be in," said Carusa, now firmly established as her country's first-choice striker.

"Though challenging and daunting to some, being at this level as a professional... if you are not wanting that, what are you doing? How are you going to get better?

"Coming off the World Cup and some of the biggest crowds we'd ever played in front of, you learn a lot really quickly. I'd say it becomes quite normal and honestly, it is weird.

"They say iron sharpens iron... so in order to become better, sharper and step up you have to play against the best. It has to be normalised with that competitiveness, the level of play, the speed of play and all of that.

"Having come off the games we played at the World Cup, coming into these games, I feel we have a much larger experience under our belts."

Ireland do have previous when it comes to upsetting fancied opponents. Their 1-1 draw with Sweden in Gothenburg during World Cup qualification was a mjor turning point for the team; the sort of gutsy, rousing resilience that accelerates positive momentum.

The Swedes are in their group again this time round, and aren't exactly thrilled by the