Damien Duff puts Ireland women’s World Cup qualification on a par with what men achieved

Damien Duff believes the achievement of Vera Pauw’s Ireland stands on a par with any of the previous World Cup qualifications by the men’s team.

Duff was at home on Tuesday night, watching on television as the Irish women’s side beat Scotland at Hampden Park to qualify for the World Cup for the first time. The Dubliner was a key player for the Ireland men’s team when they qualified for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

It was Ireland’s third World Cup appearance after Italy in 1990 and the United States in 1994, but the men’s side have not qualified for another since. And Duff sees Tuesday night’s victory by Pauw’s side as a real milestone.

“I don’t see why it shouldn’t be at the top with the men qualifying,” said Duff, when asked where he believed it stands in the list of Irish sporting achievements.

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“Sometimes it’s hard to get your kids just to sit with you, but my daughter, she’s only 10, the two of us sat on the couch, her on my lap, cheering on the girls. I e-mailed Vera Pauw straight away and I texted Áine O’Gorman, because I know her a few years, telling them I can’t wait for next summer already and I hope the nation does comes to a standstill.

“Everyone talks about 1990, 2002 and the boys. It’s ‘Come on you girls in green’ now. Amazingly proud and I’ll be well behind them as I’m sure everyone else will be. It’s an amazing achievement.

“You could argue they lead the way in every way. Getting to the World Cup, they’ve done it, the men haven’t done it in a long time.”

And Duff hopes the hugely positive reaction to the accomplishment will lead to improvements in the game at club level across Ireland.

“The women’s game here, the League of Ireland, I think they get maybe expenses and stuff at the minute, so on every level hopefully that’ll start to take off but I imagine it will be slowly, just like the men’s game, over a long period of time. It won’t happen overnight.”

As for the match-winning goal on Tuesday night from Amber Barrett, Duff felt her deft finish had the sparkle of a certain Brazilian.

“It was unbelievable, yeah, a little toe-poke, hadn’t seen that in a long while. It reminded me of Romario, he had that toe-poke finish. Amazing. It was a brilliant, brilliant night.”

Duff is hoping for a special night for his Shelbourne side this Sunday when they travel to face Waterford in an FAI Cup semi-final at the RSC (4.45, live on RTÉ 2). However, Shels look set to be without both Shane Farrell (groin) and Jack Moylan (leg) for the game.

“They are still struggling, potentially they will miss out, they’d be big losses. We’ve been down to bare bones all year. Shane has been one of the best players in the league, he started the season slowly, me getting to know him and him getting to know me. But six games in, ‘Here you go, do you want it?’ And he’s played every minute since. But he’s a long shot for this weekend, just like Jack.”