Mannion ‘smelling the roses’ as her luck finally turns

Aoife Mannion’s football journey has been laced with more lows than highs.

A vertical scar on her right knee signposts the two ACL injuries that derailed her club and international career for the guts of three years.

Not long after she’d recovered from the second of those setbacks, Mannion suffered a medial ligament tweak that robbed her of the chance to go to last summer’s World Cup.

But the Solihull-born defender is made of tough stuff. Mannion admits now that every game she gets under her belt is treated as a blessing; the 28-year-old’s struggles merely strengthening her determination to focus on the good stuff.

She comes into Republic of Ireland camp this week still buzzing from being involved in Manchester United’s FA Cup final win over Tottenham, and relishing the opportunity to square up to Sweden in Friday night’s Euro 2024 qualifier at the Aviva Stadium.

“It’s been a mad few weeks,” Mannion said at the team’s Castleknock Hotel team base.

“We won the FA Cup, that was incredible. In football you have these moments that are the highlights of your career, and then a few days later it almost feels like it’s on to the next thing. So I’ve enjoyed being asked the questions about it because it brings it back and then obviously the men’s team won it at the weekend as well so that’s quite special.

“One, two, skip a few, and we’re back in camp for our next round of games in this qualifying campaign. It’s all the good stuff, all excitement, all action happening starting with Sweden.”

Mannion would be forgiven for being a little cynical after enduring such an abundance of injury frustration. But the disappointments have instead crystallised her appreciation for the career she’s managed to forge.

A versatile and committed player, there’s still time for Mannion to rack up the caps and enjoy more good days at club level.

“The older I get the more I realise that moments that fall in your favour are not actually a given,” she said.

“When I was younger and good things would happen, I wouldn’t really reflect and have a think that that’s actually quite unique and quite special.

“As I get older I’m definitely smelling the roses, savouring it. I’m not far enough along the other side of injuries to forget that things can switch very easily. When I get through a game fit I think, ‘thank you, I am blessed’.

“Football has a funny way of bringing you right back down. It’s not something that you need to say to yourself or intellectualise or try and speak to yourself about because a few days later, you do something rubbish in training and you’re reminded of how much you need to improve.”

Mannion played in Ireland’s qualifier defeats to France and England, two games that seriously tested Eileen Gleeson’s five-player back line. They largely acquitted themselves well, with small lapses proving very costly against elite opposition.

Sweden look like the team most vulnerable to slipping up against the Girls in Green but that’s really a testament to how incredibly tough the group is: Peter Gerhardsson’s side are ranked sixth in the world and are serial contenders at major tournaments.

“I think it’s going to be a really exciting couple of games,” Mannion added.

“We shouldn’t underestimate Sweden, they are a brilliant side with top drawer players.

“Against France and England, there were really different stories across the same game. We had portions of the game where we really went at them, especially in the second half against England. We felt it was with the impetus trying to chase something, we felt the crowd was behind us.

“Here I am fit, healthy, I’m able to come with a team that are really close knit, a brilliant group of girls and that is enough for me.”

“But the challenge is to see, how do you pitch yourself against these teams across 90 minutes. What’s sustainable? How much can you really go for it without opening yourself up?

“The most difficult thing against world-class opposition is how clinical they are. They only need one moment and one chance to turn the whole game on its head, so that can be really draining. You know you have to concentrate 110% for the whole game. You can get punished so easily.”

Another big night, another huge challenge. And another opportunity for Aoife Mannion to smell the roses.

“Here I am fit, healthy, I’m able to come with a team that are really close knit, a brilliant group of girls and that is enough for me,” she smiled.

“That’s partly why I don’t have strong opinions about (what position) I play because I think, as long as I’m fit and I’m happy and I’m healthy, what more can you ask for?”

Watch Republic of Ireland v Sweden in Euro 2025 qualifying on Friday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on an extended Game On with 2fm

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