The 69 minutes Aoife Mannion spent on the pitch in Cadiz on Wednesday afternoon represented her longest chunk of football in over a year.
Mannion suffered a terrible ACL injury last March when playing for Manchester United and is still only working her way back to top gear.
However she was a major positive in the Republic of Ireland’s 0-0 friendly stalemate against China, showing loads of aggression and no little composure in an excellent debut.
Mannion received a big hug from Vera Pauw as she left the field and a proud wave from mam Kathleen, dad Bernard and sister Aine in the stands. The Birmingham-born defender played for England up to U-23 level and twice on the bench for the seniors, but she’s all in with Ireland now.
“They’d threatened to wear all sorts of Irish clothes but the turned up neutral, not wanting to draw attention. They’re so happy,” a beaming Mannion said of her Irish folks afterwards.
“I enjoyed it. I didn’t put the ball into my own net which is a good start. I didn’t stand out in a bad way.
“What you’ve seen here is a bit of who I am, being aggressive on the ball, positive and a nice one-v-one defender. Hopefully that will be enough for Vera to want to use my services for Ireland duty.”
It’s very likely that will be the case. Mannion had a couple of loose passes in the first half but overall her distribution from the back was excellent.
She played with an authority and force that will give Pauw serious food for thought not only when she’s selecting her 23-player squad for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, but when it comes to picking her first XI against the Aussie in Ireland’s group opener.
“When I walked onto the pitch, it had been watered and was lovely,” added Mannion. “I thought, ‘this is what I’m used to’, knowing I’d be able to give the best show of myself. I hope it came across that I enjoyed myself.”
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Her defensive partner Louise Quinn – typically commanding in a player of the match performance – was impressed.
With Niamh Fahey injured, Savannah McCarthy still working her way back from her own ACL nightmare and Diane Caldwell starting the China game on the bench, competition is really intense in that part of the pitch.
But Quinn could not disguise her admiration for Mannion’s contribution.
“She has plenty of experience, played with top teams, she has that real variety as a defender to play good transitional balls but also be on the ball, very comfortable, getting herself out of two-v-one situations on the line,” she said.
“That shows her confidence in herself. It is sometimes exactly what we need, just that little moment of calm in the ball to break their lines and get past people. She was brilliant. A great communicator and a great leader.
“I didn’t have to encourage her too much to make sure she was talking because she just naturally has it.
“It’s still all up for grabs. We have brilliant, experienced defenders. It’s brilliant to have that competition but listen, I wouldn’t want to be Vera picking it. Everyone is well capable of stepping up to the plate.”
