Republic of Ireland 0 France 3
Lakrar 45, 61; Le Sommer 45
Katie McCabe’s injury came first. The departure of the Irish captain was followed by a collective lapse in concentration as this subdued World Cup send-off unmasked fresh problems in Vera Pauw’s camp.
McCabe rolled her left ankle on 10 minutes, departing the scene after a half-hour, a situation clarified as “precautionary” by the FAI.
Sinead Farrelly was also forced off on her home debut.
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The third French goal was worse to witness than the injuries as it exposed a Republic of Ireland side that has built a reputation for being fit, dogged and organised.
Maelle Lakrar’s second goal came far too easily. Failure to mark up from a Kenza Dali corner on the hour mark allowed Lakrar to stride into the Irish box and plant a free header past Courtney Brosnan.
The 7,632 record attendance have come to expect higher standards than this off-colour display.
Izzy Atkinson replaced the uncomfortable McCabe, slotting in at left back and while the 21-year-old Dubliner looked sharp initially, she must share blame with Heather Payne for the opening France goal.
It had been going so well. Pauw revealed prematch that she had to stop thinking about the “I” and focus on the “we” after a turbulent week caused by her inviting The Athletic to dig up stories about her alleged behaviour while Houston Dash coach in 2018.
Pauw brought global focus on the Ireland squad by threatening legal action against a mysterious American person post-World Cup.
Back to football matters, the strongest available Irish XI took the fight to an undercooked France only to sloppily concede two goals in first-half injury time.
The Australians will have taken note ahead of the World Cup opener against Ireland on July 20th in Sydney.
The Matildas will also have noticed Dali targeting Megan Connolly – a key Irish midfielder repositioned in defence. Half-time was in spitting distance when Dali demanded a penalty from English referee Kirsty Dowle. “Two times,” she screamed after Connolly had leant on her after being beaten all ends up.
Ireland appeared to have survived but within seconds Dali dropped deep to send a gorgeous ball over Atkinson’s head. Lakrar turned the West Ham full back inside out before crossing low into the six yard box. Payne got their first, but her clearance went straight back to Lakrar for a tap-in off Brosnan’s torso.
Ireland needed to calm down but four minutes into stoppage time, Brosnan’s poor clearance prompted a quick French throw-in. The Irish defence looked uncertain, nervous even, as the fifth best team in the world played through them.
Louise Quinn took the bait, dashing out to Dali who nutmegged her for Eugenie Le Sommer to rifle a shot beyond Brosnan.
The Everton goalkeeper had an uncertain night. She was lucky to avoid picking Selma Bacha’s effort out of the net on 25 minutes.
A glimpse into Sydney and Perth futures or a valuable wake-up call? Time will tell.
Besides all the unwanted “noise” surrounding the squad, as Karen Duggan noted on RTÉ prematch, there were some encouraging signs.
The shape suits the talent at Pauw’s disposal. Connolly in defence remains a liability but push her into midfield alongside Denise O’Sullivan and the team could click into gear.
When O’Sullivan eventually gets motoring, she has three American athletes ahead of her. Kyra Carusa was denied a perfectly legitimate goal straight after McCabe’s knock. The English officials made a mess of an offside call. There was no VAR to save them, so France were let off the hook.
Visiting net minder Paulie Peyraud-Magnin’s poor clearance under pressure from Marissa Sheva offered the hosts another lifeline but Carusa was too slow to take it. Arguably, a natural born goal scorer like Leanne Kiernan would have let fly.
All told, it has been a nightmarish few days for the Ireland manager who pregame was still talking about The Athletic investigation into her 2018 season in Houston.
“I had only one choice, step over from ‘I’ to ‘we’,” said the Dutch woman. “I must be honest, yesterday it was about ‘I’ because I was in shock and I didn’t know really how to move on. I realised the only reason I am here is because of these fantastic players. Being professional means I am here for the players not the other way around.”
Duggan responded on RTÉ: “Nothing will change before the World Cup. This manager is bringing the team to the World Cup. Best thing is to shield these girls from any more negativity. They’ve had to face enough in the last six months.”
After this showing there are fewer places to hide.
Ireland: Brosnan (Everton); Payne (Unattached), Fahey (Liverpool), Quinn (Birmingham City), Connolly (Unattached), McCabe (Arsenal); O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Littlejohn (Unattached); Sheva (Washington Spirit), Farrelly (NJ/NY Gotham); Carusa (London City Lionesses).
Substitutes: Atkinson (West Ham United) for McCabe (30), O’Riordan (Unattached) for Fahey, O’Gorman (Shamrock Rovers) for Payne, Agg (London City Lionesses) for Littlejohn (both 70), Larkin (Shamrock Rovers) for Farrelly, Caldwell (Reading) for Connolly (80).
France: Peyraud-Magnin (Juventus); Lakrar (Montpellier), Cascarino (Paris Saint Germain), W Renard (Lyon), S Karchaoui (Paris Saint-Germain); Geyoro (Paris Saint Germain), Toletti (Real Madrid), Dali (Aston Villa), Bacha (Lyon); Le Sommer (Lyon), Diani (Unattached).
Substitutes: De Almeida (Paris Saint-Germain) for Dali, Mateo (Paris FC) for Diani (both 62), Feller (Real Madrid) for Le Sommer, Perisset (Chelsea) for Lakrar (both 75), Asseyi (West Ham United) or Geyoro, Majri (Lyon) for Karchaoui (both 85)
Referee: Kirsty Dowle (England).
