We know they’ll be well used to each other, but we’ve got that togetherness in abundance as well
McCabe and Pauw ready as World Cup fate in balance
DAIRE WALSH
DESPITE facing one of their biggest tests as a collective group, Katie McCabe insists there is a relaxed mood in the Ireland camp ahead of tonight’s World Cup Group A qualifier against Finland at Tallaght Stadium.
Should they come away with all three points at the expense of the Finns, the Girls in Green will book a place in the World Cup play-offs with a game to spare.
This would be monumental for the national side, who last reached the play-off round for a major tournament all of 14 years ago.
From the current squad, Aine O’Gorman and Niamh Fahey are the only survivors from the team that suffered a 4-1 aggregate defeat to Finland and consequently missed out on a spot at Euro 2009.
Ireland manager Vera Pauw confirmed that Galway native Fahey will miss out through injury, but team skipper McCabe is hopeful of getting the job done in her absence.
“We’re relaxed. We know what’s at stake. For us, each game has been just as important as the next. We need three points in order to get a play-off position,” McCabe said.
“Since we’ve come in, we’re still enjoying each other’s company. We have our catch-ups. We have our coffees in the morning. We’re very relaxed, but we also know the pressure that is on this game.
“We’ll be fully focused, doing our preparation and then obviously push for Slovakia on Tuesday.”
Opponents
While McCabe and her international colleagues are looking upon tonight’s encounter in Tallaght as akin to a cup final, the same is true of their opponents.
A win would see Finland leapfrogging Ireland into runners-up spot heading into the final round of games.
This isn’t unfamiliar territory for the Finns, who recently featured at the European Championships in England. With this in mind, McCabe acknowledged Ireland are wary of the threats Finland can pose.
“Obviously it’s always important to remain compact, especially against these types of teams. Finland have shown their qualities in previous games.
“Certainly against the likes of Slovakia and Sweden as well, they’ve had a lot of time together over the course of the Euros too.
“We know they’ll be well used to each other, but we’ve got that togetherness in abundance as well and we’ll be looking to use that tomorrow night.”
This Ireland group came close to reaching the play-offs for those delayed Euros in England, having gone into their final two games of the qualification phase against Ukraine and Germany needing a single point for a second-placed finish.
That clash with Ukraine in Kyiv on October 23, 2020 was seen as the one that got away.
They had the lion’s share of possession and chances throughout the course of the game, but an Aine O’Gorman own goal and a missed McCabe penalty saw them lose 1-0.
A subsequent 3-1 reversal to Germany saw Ireland finishing third in Group I, while Ukraine were defeated over two legs by the North in the Euro play-offs.
That defeat was a tough result for McCabe and her team-mates to take, but she believes the squad are now in a much better place as they look to push onto the next level.
“We’ve learnt a lot from that game. You look at that game in Ukraine and as a team, as a group, we’ve never been in that position before.
“We’ve never had what was on the line that day.
“Compare that to now, we’ve grown so much as a team. We’ve obviously dissected what happened in Ukraine, how we can improve on that. What we could do better and I think it has really put us in a good head space to prepare as best we can for this game.”
Sitting beside McCabe in yesterday’s press conference, Pauw agreed that incremental improvements have been made since that reversal to Ukraine.
“I think it’s incomparable. They became, in every sense, full professionals. A lot of experience in their clubs and in their leagues. With the games that we’ve played since then, we’ve experienced so much pressure that this team is incomparable with two years ago,” Pauw explained.
Challenge
In regards to tonight’s mouthwatering affair, Pauw said the biggest challenge facing her side is the relative lack of game time that her players have under their belts.
This is in stark contrast to their Finnish counterparts, who are in the midst of a hectic domestic campaign.
“The key thing now is that our team is not in competition and Finland are all in the league. We’ll see tomorrow if that will give anything. You can say they’re tired, we’re fresh and you can say they have game rhythm and we have less game rhythm. We will see tomorrow,” Pauw added.
“That is why we’ve approached it as a final. No excuse can be made because you can’t play it again.
“We’ll be ready with a team that knows their tasks, but especially knows also what we’re going to face.”