Northern Ireland senior women’s team manager Tanya Oxtoby insists her players are fully focused and prepared ahead of part one of a UEFA Women’s Nations League double header against Romania.
Oxtoby’s team are due to face the Romanians in League B Group 1 at the Stadionul Arcul de Triumf in Bucharest later today (5pm kick-off BST).
And they will come up against them again on Tuesday (8 April) at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (7pm).
"The girls have been sensational in terms of their application and I'm really looking forward to watching them play. Preparations have been very good,” said Oxtoby.
The senior women’s team trained in Leicester this week prior to flying out to Romania for the UWNL match.
Oxtoby revealed everyone in her 23-player squad is fit and raring to go.
And she also said the younger players and more experienced operators in her panel are gelling well.
The Northern Ireland boss pointed out: "You can see that now in the performances on the pitch, that's really important. They have respect for each other and what we are trying to do.
"It's taken time to build that but we are in a really great place now and they are a delight to work with."
Northern Ireland currently lie second in the B1 group (on three points) behind Poland (six points) after a defeat against the Poles away and a win over Bosnia and Herzegovina at home in their opening group fixtures.
Romania started their campaign with a 4-0 defeat away to the Bosnians and then narrowly lost 1-0 at home to top seeds Poland.
They also lost twice to the Poles in a play-off for UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 back in October – 2-1 at home and 4-1 away.
Before that, however, they had a pretty positive 2024. They won their League C group in the Nations League with a 100 per cent record. They defeated Armenia, Kazakhstan and Bulgaria home and away.
The bulk of the Romanian squad play their club football in Romania.
However, they do have players in their ranks who ply their trade in other parts of Europe.
They include Camelia Ceasar, a goalkeeper with Roma in Italy (nine caps), and Andreea Paralua, their most experienced keeper with 48 caps, who plays for Fortuna Hjorring in Denmark.
Their most experienced outfield player is also on the books of Fortuna Hjorring. Thirty-nine-year-old attacking midfielder Florentina Olar has made 181 appearances for her country, scoring 23 goals.
A third Romanian is with the same Danish club. Central defender Maria Ficzay (33) has 20 caps.
Midfielder Stefania Vatafu, who plays for Anderlecht in Belgium, is nearest to Olar in the scoring charts. The 31-year-old has scored 10 goals in 44 appearances for her country.
Cristina Carp (27), who plays for Young Boys in Switzerland, is rated highly. She has 32 caps and three goals to her name.
The regular right back in Massimo Pedrazinni’s team is also a solid operator. Twenty-five-year-old Teodora Nicoara, who plays for Fatih Vatan Spor in Turkey, is the most experienced defender in the Romania Women squad with 42 caps.
The most experienced Romania-based player in the squad is midfielder Ioana Bortan of Farul Constanta. The 36-year-old has 46 caps and one international goal under her belt.
Today’s game is being shown live on the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport NI website.
Tickets are still available for next week’s game in Belfast at irishfa.com/tickets.
Training in Bucharest
