Republic of Ireland to face China in World Cup warm-up friendly

The Republic of Ireland's preparations for the World Cup will continue with a training camp in Marbella next month, including a behind-closed-doors game against Germany and concluding with a friendly against China.

The Asian Cup holders are 14th in the world rankings and are also heading to the finals in Australia and New Zealand this summer.

"It is vital to our preparations for the World Cup that we make the most of every opportunity that we have together as a squad because we only have three international windows left before that tournament starts in July," said Ireland manager Vera Pauw.

"This training camp will be key to those preparations. China are a technically very good team who will be different from the type of teams we have come up against before.

"Playing against them gives us the chance to experience the pressure of international football against a highly skilled opponent.

"As part of the February training camp, we will also play against Germany in what we have agreed will be a behind-closed-doors game. This will be an excellent test for our players."

The Girls in Green qualified for a first major finals last year after victory over Scotland at Hampden Park, while their tournament opener against co-hosts Australia is set to be moved to a larger stadium due to demand, partially driven by the large Irish community Down Under.

They return to Marbella having previously spent 10 days there in camp last year, where they beat Morocco 4-0.

The FAI has confirmed that further camps, likely to take place in April and July, will form part of the final preparations before the World Cup.