O'Sullivan eyes more big days at Aviva after promotion

Denise O'Sullivan has her eyes on some big days at the Aviva Stadium in the spring after the Republic of Ireland sealed promotion to League A of the UEFA Nations League.

O'Sullivan swept home an 88th-minute effort against Albania in dreadful conditions to earn the Girls in Green three points that ensured they won their group with two games to spare.

They are now elevated to the top tier of the Nations League and have an improved seeding for the Euro 2025 qualifiers, which start in April.

Ireland played a historic fixture against Northern Ireland at the Aviva in September.

Now, they're hoping for more days out at the Lansdowne Road venue.

"You always want to be playing in front of big crowds but there will be games like that when you're playing in front of a few hundred," O'Sullivan said when reflecting on the sparse attendance at the Stadiumi Loro Borici in Shkoder on Tuesday evening.

"As professionals, you must cope with that and we dealt with it well.

"Hopefully we’ll play in the Aviva again next year, in front of a massive crowd, but right now Tallaght is our home. Hopefully people keep showing up to get behind us because the support is massive and really helps push us along."

The biblical rain made the going very tough, even for someone as technically gifted as O'Sullivan.

The opening period was chaotic, and dangerous, as the ball continuously got stuck in the soaked turf.

"It was crazy," O'Sulllivan said. "I'd never experienced anything like it. It was literally a monsoon, you couldn’t do anything like trap the ball. I was kicking puddles.

"Once that torrential rain came, it was kind of unplayable. We knew we might have to come back out again, so we went in and we stayed focused, and we came out and we went until the very end.