Vera Pauw’s ‘perfect tactics’ reveal fly in the Ireland ointment

It was approaching midnight last Thursday when the mighty Quinn appeared. Walking gingerly into the Stadium Australia mixed zone with a bruised eye and heavily iced ankle, the adrenaline still coursing through her body after delivering a performance from the deep within her bones.

“It was electric,” said Louise Quinn after playing her first World Cup match in front of 75,784 people. “You could only hear the person beside you, so you pass on the information as best you can. I loved every bit of it. I’ve wanted this my whole career.”

The Birmingham City captain is 33 years old.

“I’ve been watching on, doing punditry and wondering: ‘how does that feel?’ Now that we are here it feels great. We lived up to the occasion.”

Copa 71: ‘These women were gaslit. Imagine playing a sport at the highest level and then being told, that didn’t exist’

---

Amber Barrett: ‘I say nothing when I don’t know the full truth ... The social media people should have done the same’

---

Sports Review 2023: Magical moment as Katie McCabe creates history

---

Katie McCabe interview: ‘It’s important to have characters, you don’t want a team of robots’

---

Ireland lost 1-0 to an Australian side sans Sam Kerr. They must take four points off Canada and Nigeria to have any chance of reaching the last 16.

Results will always wash over a brave display. The sobering sight of Nigeria and Canada drawing 0-0 in Melbourne on Friday leaves Ireland rooted to the bottom of Group B. The Super Falcons and Olympic gold medallists both look capable of going far at this World Cup.

Christine Sinclair has amassed a record 190 goals from 317 caps so the Canadian legend will be livid to see her 50th minute penalty denied by Paris FC goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie. Barcelona sensation Asisat Oshoala also should have scored while Nigerian substitute Uchenna Kanu was denied a late winner by more heroics, this time from Canada goalie Kailen Sheridan.

All told, after one round of matches, Australia are top of the pile with Ireland facing Canada in Perth next Wednesday and Nigeria at Brisbane’s Lang Park on July 31st.

Bodies are already creaking.

[ Ireland’s next group opponents Canada held by Nigeria to goalless draw ]

Following Thursday’s loss in western Sydney, Vera Pauw was highly complimentary of her own tactics.

“Our game plan worked perfectly and tactically we were very well prepared,” she said. “We try to play within the rules of the game. We are an Irish team, battling is in our DNA.”

Pauw was echoing her captain Katie McCabe’s prematch comments about physicality, and the Arsenal winger tore into her first major tournament, needing to strap her fingers to continue playing until the 96th minute when she almost grabbed an equaliser.

This gutsy, resolute Irish showing was roundly applauded afterwards but on the evidence of two matches in Group B, Pauw’s defensive shape remains too conservative to expect progress beyond the group stages.

Quinn disagrees.

“We totally believe, honestly, I am not trying to chat shite to you, that we can get out of the group. We have to put in more performances like that, but go up again.”

The wonder is how they plan to score a goal in Perth beyond a McCabe howitzer or a Megan Connolly free-kick.

Again, Quinn disagrees.

“It is one of our strengths.”

Since qualifying for the World Cup, Ireland have lost four matches against countries ranked higher than them, scoring zero goals and conceding seven.

The problem is obvious. The solution is not. Pauw is tuned into her football periodisation methods and a cautious, structured approach that got Ireland this far. But further progress looks impossible with McCabe, Connolly and Denise O’Sullivan starting games in ultra defensive roles.

[ Karen Duggan: I just wish we weren’t so married to five at the back ]

With none of the above showing for long range shots, off Kyra Carusa’s strong hold up play, the American experiment goes back under the microscope.

Sinead Farrelly is a revelation. Having stepped away from the game for seven years, at 33, she remains a slick distributor but Marissa Sheva has looked like a liability since being capped out of nowhere against China last February.

Considering the 26 year-old cannot command a regular start for Washington Spirit, her call up for this tournament ahead of established internationals Leanne Kiernan and Jamie Finn remains a sore point among many long term observers of this group.

There is mounting evidence that the former Penn State track athlete is well below the required standard. Sheva’s patent inability to link play or put accurate crosses into the box against Australia spilt into sloppy positioning when she coughed up the decisive penalty eight minutes into the second half. Matildas captain Steph Catley did the rest.

Pauw blamed the Philadelphia native for the loss with an unsparing post-match assessment.

“At half-time I said this is a game that will be decided if something happens, which team makes the mistake.”

The blame lies squarely at the Ireland manager’s door. She recruited Sheva. She keeps picking her.

Kiernan and Finn are beyond recall but there is a solution to hand. For several months now, Abbie Larkin has been threatening to produce the inspirational performance everyone witnessed for 30-odd minutes in Sydney the other morning.

See her 96th minute gallop on to Heather Payne’s low ball. Instinctively, Larkin lifted her head before a light touch drew the defender and allowed a cut back pass for McCabe. Four gold shirts surrounded the Ireland skipper, forcing her to take a right-footed shot that Mackenzie Arnold easily gathered.

There goes that dream.

Afterwards Larkin gave the country a glimpse of what we have in store over the next 15 years. She was charming, whip smart and fully cognisant that this is a special moment in her life.

“Tony, it was amazing,” she began her post match interview, sounding like a veteran of the RTÉ dance. “A dream come true. This is all I wanted growing up as a kid.

“I was more excited than nervous. I just came into the game thinking we need to win this. Just the passion takes over, I done well.

“As a team, we didn’t give up and that’s what World Cup football is,” Larkin continued. “We are proving that Ireland are well capable. Unlucky with the penalty but we will put our heads down to get the result in the next match.”

Tony O’Donoghue, the interviewer, expressed shock at how quickly she is adapting to elite sport.

“I’m 18! It’s amazing playing with my idols that I looked up to when I was younger. I still look up to every girl in this team. I’m proud and honoured to come on to this pitch today and show what I can do.”