“They are allowed to party. I will go to bed and leave them.” Those were the words of Vera Pauw after Ireland ended their World Cup qualifying group campaign with victory over Slovakia. Who can blame her for her leniency? Akin to Thursday’s result over Finland, Ireland were not at their best but had enough in the tank to get the result that sees them jump into the second round of the playoff, that extra step closer to qualifying for Australia and New Zealand 2023. The best line of the night post match? That honour goes to Katie McCabe: “F**king kicked up and down the pitch, I’m great. They kicked me, tried to get in my head. I rise to that, I enjoy getting kicked around the pitch, it brings me up a level. We got the win so that’s the most important for me.”
In Tuesday’s other soccer action, Erling Haaland remained a cheat code for Manchester City, adding two goals to his blistering start in blue as Pep Guardiola’s side swatted aside a struggling Sevilla outfit, 4-0 the final score in southern Spain. The other Premier League side in action, Chelsea, had no such similar luck on the road, falling to a frustrating 1-0 defeat away to Dinamo Zagreb. Up in Glasgow, Celtic started brightly to throw a few punches at Champions League champions Real Madrid but ultimately three second half goals from Luka Modric, Vinicius Junior and Eden Hazard saw them leave Celtic Park with a 3-0 victory.
The All Star nominations are out and, unsurprisingly, All-Ireland champions Kerry lead the way with 12 names on the list. However, David Clifford is the only Kerry nominee for Footballer of the Year – with Galway pair Shane Walsh and Cillian McDaid completing the shortlist. The Young Footballer of the Year nominees are Galway defender Jack Glynn, Derry wing forward Ethan Doherty and Dublin back Lee Gannon.
“The squad is made up of several generations, the kids, born in the 2000s, what we like to refer to as the “forgotten or middle children,” (born 1997-1999) and finally ‘The Crusty Dustys,’ the collective noun for those who seem to have been around forever. It takes us the longest to blow away the cobwebs in the morning.” The Sevens World Cup takes place this weekend in Cape Town and The Irish Times has a new columnist to take you through the tournament and her season as a whole. Stacey Flood is one of Ireland’s key players in both that tournament and the 15s game and she offers a unique insight into the group’s preparation ahead of the global event. On the men’s side of the game, Andrew Conway has been speaking about his bittersweet emotions after missing Ireland’s historic series win over New Zealand through injury.
