This is where Vera Pauw has always aimed her Ireland team. The World Cup qualifier against Finland next Thursday in Tallaght is sold out, not a ticket to be got. The success of the Euros means women’s football has grabbed everyone’s attention, albeit that Ireland had to watch from afar. People are watching now. Good.
On the pitch, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Beat Finland – as they’ve already done once, in Helsinki last October – and they’ll be in the playoffs to go to Australia and New Zealand next year. Fail to win and it starts to get tricky. For now, it’s in their hands. Exactly how she wants it.
“Yeah,” said Pauw at the squad announcement on Friday morning. “It is. But it’s not an easy job to do. Many are thinking ahead of it. But Finland was the better team away. And we stole the points over there. The thing is that this is their last chance. They will not underestimate us. And we have to know where we stand.
“They just played the Euros. That can be a pro or a negative. But they have three major games in their legs at this moment, with a rest period in between. So we need to see where we stand. The thing is we need to be ready as always and then we need to see if it’s enough – and if the luck is a bit on our side.
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“I want to repeat – and I am not downplaying – I don’t see us as favourites. I see that this is a big, big game and it will be very difficult to get a result. The situation is completely different from the first game. I hope you remember that we scored early and I hope you remember how we have played under pressure later in the game. It is a really hard game but we will be ready and we will do everything we can to get a result.”
On the personnel front, her squad shows no surprises. They have no injury worries and Pauw is able to welcome back defender Hayley Nolan after a dislocated shoulder. As long as they get through the weekend in the same fettle – a dozen of the squad have games with their clubs between now and Sunday night – they will face into the week in a position of real strength. The drumbeat of expectation will get louder and louder as Thursday looms.
“This squad is special,” Pauw said. “This squad is so special. We have played in front of a big crowd in Sweden, a big crowd in Finland. Everybody was saying, ‘Will this bring up the pressure for them?’ We’ve played almost a full house at home. These players are independent of that.
“Of course we work a lot on being independent of it – it’s not coming by itself. But I’ve never seen a team responding so well in different circumstances than this team. They are so focused, they really know what they are doing on the pitch. We’ll see if that’s good enough. But no, I think it will only be a boost for us.
“We have earned this position. So why would you neglect it? This is us, this is what we earned over the last years. Not the two years that I have been in charge but going back over 20 years. In 2008, this team qualified for a playoff for the Euros – Áine O’Gorman was already in that squad at the age of 16!
“This team has grown step by step by step by step. And now we are in the position that everybody expects something from us. We know what we want. We have found our limits. That is why we played those games against the big opponents last year. We know our limits and we know that we are growing.
“But we will not put on pants that are too big in size. I said that before. Because those pants will end up at your ankles. We can only succeed if we are realistic.”
Pauw’s insistence on realism is very Dutch, of course. But she will always make room for the heart as well. Denise O’Sullivan’s new contract with North Carolina Courage is probably not strictly ideal from an Irish point of view – plenty of teams in England would kill to have her and it would cut down on the miles Pauw asks her best player to travel for the cause. But life is important too. A happy player is a performing player.
“She’s crucial. We have a few big stars, everybody knows that and we don’t have to hide from that. Those are the players that make a difference, but they are not more important than the other players, it’s because of the other players they can make that difference. We’re so happy to have her in the team, and good luck to her.
“We’ve spoken about the extension of her contract and staying in the USA, that’s the place where she’s happy, so we’ve more discussed about, ‘Where do you feel that you feel happy? Where do YOU feel ... and not so much, where should you be? The time differences and all the jet lag, of course that’s hard and that’s not a healthy thing to do, but being happy is the most important thing.”
So here they are. On the brink of something genuinely game-changing. A full house is something that’s new to them, a real chance to go to a World Cup has never been this close before. Exciting times.
“It’s fantastic. I think it was within 30 minutes that the stadium was sold out. And that’s the first ever [time]. The biggest crowd we had was just over 5,000. So now in 30 minutes, to have the whole stadium packed is amazing and fantastic. Probably two sides; we have earned that, but it was also during the Euros, all the hype of the Euros.
“We are so happy that that comes together. And the crowd will support us. What’s amazing is what the FAI has done, we’re so happy with that, 2,000 of the tickets are solely reserved for children. At least 2,000 girls of grassroots clubs will be there. And then with all the support that we have, with all the other people in, that is what we feel is the best of all.”
Republic of Ireland squad
Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Grace Moloney (Reading), Megan Walsh (Brighton & Hove Albion), Eve Badana (DLR Waves).
Defenders: Harriet Scott (Birmingham City), Claire O’Riordan (Celtic), Diane Caldwell (Reading), Louise Quinn (Birmingham City), Niamh Fahey (Liverpool), Hayley Nolan (London City Lionesses), Chloe Mustaki (Bristol City), Megan Campbell (Liverpool), Áine O’Gorman (Peamount United).
Midfielders: Katie McCabe (Arsenal), Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Megan Connolly (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ruesha Littlejohn (Aston Villa), Jamie Finn (Birmingham City), Ciara Grant (Hearts), Lily Agg (London City Lionesses), Ellen Molloy (Wexford Youths), Jess Ziu (West Ham United), Lucy Quinn (Birmingham City).
Forwards: Heather Payne (Florida State University), Amber Barrett (FFC Turbine Potsdam), Leanne Kiernan (Liverpool), Abbie Larkin (Shelbourne), Saoirse Noonan (Durham WFC).
