Well, that was quite something, wasn’t it? Ireland kicked off their first ever Women’s World Cup in Sydney in the same stadium Sonia O’ Sullivan won her Olympic medal 23 years ago.
This Irish team, it can be argued, have had a seriously strange amount of sliding doors moments. From the Liberty Hall strike in 2017 to now, with all the campaigners, volunteers and players who fought for equality and ensuring this team had the foundations to succeed along the way. Now, they’re the epitome of what happens if you invest in women.
The Irish men’s first World Cup in Italia 90 also has weird similarities. A foreign coach enlisted to try and lift a nation, a system that relies on a teak tough fighting Irish trope. The volume of players with Irish ancestry enlisted to add more spice to the team, and a few controversies along the way.
Of course, we’ve also had dramas surrounding Cork midfielders, but obviously for different reasons – the more recent one concerning Denise O’Sullivan’s race for fitness after that tackle against Colombia during a behind closed doors friendly just last week.
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Factor in captains who demand higher standards, more intensity, more aggression and more pace and attack and the coincidences in this Irish team culminated in Thursday’s World Cup debut. With tears in our eyes and hope and aspirations in our hearts, we watched the Girls in Green give a good account of themselves against Australia.
Australia were possibly still reeling from finding out Sam Kerr wasn’t fit, and probably won’t be fit to start the group matches. Up top were Mary Fowler, of Irish descent, and Caitlin Foord, a team-mate of Katie McCabe’s at Arsenal.
Ireland now faced a different challenge, as they willingly soaked up the pressure and let Australia play without letting them in. The Irish plan looked simple, soak it up, throw your weight around and counter.
The counter definitely needs work, though. If O’Sullivan is dropping deep with Ruesha Littlejohn to help the defence, that leaves Sinead Farrelly up top with Marissa Sheva and Kyra Carusa. Not the worst scenario, but given how limited Farrelly’s match fitness and sharpness is, it puts a lot of pressure on the two forwards to try and create something from nothing.
McCabe was preoccupied in trying to keep Australian wingers quiet, but, funnily enough, they too didn’t have any directness or tooth in their attack without Kerr. And while Australian manager Tony Gustavsson is adamant they’re not a one trick pony, Thursday’s game did little to allay those fears.
The turning point came after half-time. Sheva got too hands on and physical in the box and the referee was always going to give a penalty. Steph Catley blasted past Courtney Brosnan – had Thibaut Courtois been between the sticks he wouldn’t have stopped it.
Naturally, Australia reverted to just leaving one up top to preserve their hard-fought lead.
One of Pauw’s biggest issues is not using her bench enough and she didn’t spring a proactive change. With Amber Barrett remaining on the bench, Pauw really didn’t go full gung-ho. That leaves a weird tinge of regret. If only we gave it a go for longer. If only we were more positive.
Now, it’s time to believe. Believe we’re not here to make up the numbers. Believe we can play. Maybe, just maybe if we believe enough, something magical could happen,
