The heart and soul of this Republic of Ireland team belongs in Knocknaheeney and Kilnamanagh estates. This is where Denise O’Sullivan and Katie McCabe sharpened their touch on concrete plains.
Blessington and Balbriggan produced Louise Quinn and Diane Caldwell while Niamh Fahey hails from Killannin, Galway GAA land.
Pioneers all, these veterans will contribute Down Under in word and deed but it’s the American citizens that have altered the sound of Irish footballers in 2023.
Granddaughters of the diaspora, Sinead Farrelly, Marissa Sheva, Courtney Brosnan and Kyra Carusa will eventually return home to Irish families outside Philadelphia, Manhattan and southern California with a renewed connection to the old sod.
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Born in the USA, Irish by the grace of clever recruitment.
Late call-ups Sheva and Farrelly have changed the squad dynamic. Perhaps too much. Or just enough for something special to occur. Time will tell.
California Dreamin’
Throughout the World Cup qualification campaign Carusa battled injury and Ireland manager Vera Pauw’s focus on a defensive shape that left little room for a striker.
Heather Payne ran hard up front, rarely finding herself in enough space to control the ball, never mind shoot on sight. Carusa is a centre forward who holds possession and bring others into play. She scored 30 goals in 57 appearances for HB Køge in Norway where Champions League exposure slowed the original plan of using soccer to become Dr Carusa.
Now at London City Lionesses, she has a similar origin story to Farrelly, Sheva and Brosnan. Suburban-raised, college graduates who pursued a dream with a very American safety net. An education at Stanford and Georgetown University will stand to most.
Carusa grew up in Del Mar, a salubrious beach town north of San Diego, the granddaughter of Cork native Tony Lucey and Laois woman Beryl MacCluskey, who both emigrated in the 1950s.
What makes the Americans different from their team-mates is as children they could see female soccer heroes.
“We had the 99ers,” Carusa remembers, “the first US team to win the World Cup. Mia Hamm was a real star.
“I was only three-years-old but they made a documentary about them. It showed the plight of women’s sport in all countries. The US wins the World Cup and then the league folds within four years. This big moment happens and surely people believe now, but it falls through the cracks. Even when the US side were dominant, they were still fighting for equal pay.”
Age of Innocence
Instagram Live from the Hampden Park changing room last October officially ended the age of innocence. Belting out a republican ditty on Scottish soil will do that. That’s part of this team’s story now, but the Americans were still pinching themselves before the Zambia game in Tallaght last month. Still wide-eyed as President Michael D Higgins walked the line.
“I didn’t know the President was coming to the match!” says Sheva. “I tapped Kyra and said ‘that’s the President’. And she said ‘Oh my God’.”
Sheva’s grandfather John McCaul is from Tyrone.
“I know he was sitting on his couch in his Ireland jersey.”
A couch in a suburb of Philadelphia.
“I loved growing up in the Philly area where there is a really strong Irish community. Sellersville is a small town in the suburbs. It’s tiny, quiet and pretty rural.”
At 26, Sheva was hardly swiped from under the nose of US Soccer. She is a track athlete out of Penn State who became a high-pressing midfielder for Washington Spirit. She fits the current Irish system in a way Leanne Kiernan never did. That’s not Sheva’s fault. The assignment is to harry and hassle Australians, Canadians and Nigerians into error.
Despite only winning her first cap against China in February, Sheva preceded Farrelly. The last piece in this jigsaw.
The story of the NJ/NY Gotham midfielder’s almost impossible return from a seven-year hiatus following a car crash and alleged sexual coercion by disgraced coach Paul Riley has been told on prime time US television. But Farrelly is as Irish as an American can expect to be.
“Ireland has been such a big part of my family. My dad is from Virginia in Cavan. He still has the accent. My friends are like, ‘I don’t understand what your dad is saying’. He’s a man of few words anyway.”
Seán Farrelly doubled back to Dublin with baby Sinead, living in Shankill for a year until the family returned to the US east coast.
“She’s a calm presence on the field,” says Carusa. “Such a smart midfielder, she is that late bomb in the box. I remember her at 23, 24. Those late runs to score goals.
“Playing with her in the US [in April] was really comforting to know that my job is to hold it, move us up the field and get it into the hands of people I trust. I completely trust Sinead.”
The two April games against the US proved key for the three Americans. Sheva convinced the Irish management that her engine was worth the risk, Carusa proved she was a goal threat, while Farrelly looked a class apart.
Within 90 seconds of the 33-year-old’s surprise debut in Texas, Katie McCabe darted up the left before sending a low pass into Carusa that forced Becky Sauerbrunn to throw out a leg. Ireland’s new midfielder ran on to the ball, beating Lindsey Horan in stride before nonchalantly changing direction to leave Andi Sullivan for dust. When Farrelly fed Sheva before showing for the return pass, even doing a mini-Cruyff turn to keep possession, the jury was unanimous.
Tom Crean country
Courtney Brosnan has no weird goalkeeper ticks. No superstitions to write home about.
“Why do people keep asking me that!?”
She tucks her Under Armour into her gloves. That’s the height of it. Neville Southall she ain’t but give her time.
“I grew up in a town called Millburn. A nice little suburb outside of New York City but a real sports community. Lots more space, lots more grass.
“New Jersey gets a bad rep but I absolutely love it. My grandparents came over from Ireland into the Boston area. It was really hard for them but they found a tight-knit Irish community.”
Facing Australia on Sonia O’Sullivan’s old Olympic stomping ground must feel like this team is entering the unknown?
“Gothenburg and Helsinki prepares you,” Brosnan notes. “We have all played in front of big crowds. I’ve played at Anfield and Old Trafford but this is a World Cup, a record crowd, so it is such a big thing but it is what we always wanted for women’s football.
“You have to stay present. It is 11 v 11 on a pitch. Take in the occasion but don’t get carried away. One moment is not going to define your career.”
Not even saving Caroline Weir’s penalty at Hampden Park?
“I just remember having a sense of calmness in that moment. I can do this. We have been working on it for so long. Typically she goes to her left. It was a gut feeling.”
There has been plenty of distractions recently. TDs and Taoiseach and President all looking for a piece of the action. Allegations and accusations too.
“We are such a close group, I know if something was going wrong for me I can turn to so many girls on the team and have a chat?”
Best friend in group?
“I am really close with Grace Moloney. My closest friend is Leanne Kiernan. Obviously she is not here right now which is sad.”
Kiernan sounds like Brosnan’s best friend in the world and not just on Merseyside.
“We lived together when we were at West Ham and obviously she is at Liverpool now, I am at Everton so we live five minutes away from each other.”
Kiernan’s removal from camp cut her deep.
“I saw what she sacrificed this year. She put herself in the best position to make the final squad. It was devastating for her.”
Tough talking to her since?
“With someone like Leanne, because we are so close, we can have honest conversations. She knows I will always have her back and I know she will always have mine. In football you get to meet some amazing people.”
Who tend to slag you for being American?
“They will take you in but give you a bit of shit sometimes!”
The Brosnan name comes straight out of Annascaul in Co Kerry. Tom Crean country.
“My sister was here for the Zambia game so we rented a car and went to Kerry to stay with family. We got tons of cousins. I met 100 family members, had 50 cups of tea, it was so fun.
“They’ve all been following. You don’t realise how much support you have from family – even family I didn’t know about, until we went down. But now I do know them and see they all want the best for us, it was really cool to see that. The connections I’ve made here playing for Ireland are something I won’t take for granted. I won’t forget.”
