Ireland captain Katie McCabe has been named in the UEFA Women's Champions League team of the season.
McCabe was chosen as left back for the team following a number of impressive performances throughout the different stages of the tournament for her club side Arsenal.
🔢🔥 The 2022/23 UWCL 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧, selected by UEFA's Technical Observer panel! 👇
Who would make your starting XI ⁉ #UWCL // #UWCLfinal pic.twitter.com/oFLhTa7tUq— UEFA Women’s Champions League (@UWCL) June 5, 2023
If one game was to solidify her place in the team of the year, it would have been Arsenal's 2-2 draw against Wolfsburg in the first leg of their semi-final.
McCabe was Arsenal's standout player on the day. Despite going 2-0 down in the opening 3o minutes of the game, Arsenal showed great fight and determination to leave Wolfsburg with a result.
Nobody embodied that steely fight that Arsenal put up more than our own Katie McCabe, who produced a phenomenal performance to pull the two teams back level going into the second leg.
She created chance after chance for her team, putting her head where others wouldn't put their feet and fiercely defending her teammates from a barrage of on-the-line tackles from Wolfsburg, McCabe definitely made her mark on the game.
McCabe was inspirational throughout the whole tournament. She really stepped up to the occasion and led by example after her club side lost so many important players due to injuries across the campaign, many of which were ACL injuries.
Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedma are two-star players who were sidelined this season due to an ACL injury.
🔢🔥 The 2022/23 UWCL 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧, selected by UEFA's Technical Observer panel! 👇
Who would make your starting XI ⁉ #UWCL // #UWCLfinal pic.twitter.com/oFLhTa7tUq— UEFA Women’s Champions League (@UWCL) June 5, 2023
Katie McCabe was taking no prisoners during Arsenal's Champions League semi-final earlier today 😅pic.twitter.com/bhLgQ2oOVZ
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) April 23, 2023
The Arsenal star lines up alongside a number of world-class players from Europe's top teams. The 27-year-old Tallaght native is the only non-finalist to make the team after her side crashed out of the tournament in the semi-finals.
Katie McCabe's Arsenal missed out on the Champions League final by the smallest of margins after suffering a 3-2 second-leg defeat to Wolfsburg in a packed Emirates stadium.
Pauline Bremer tapped in the crucial goal deep into extra-time to secure a win for the 2013 and 2014 back-to-back champions, shattering the Arsenal players' hopes of playing in a Champions League Final simultaneously.
The Irish international is the only player outside of Finalists Barcelona and Wolfsburg to feature in the Uefa Champions League team of the season. The rest of the team solely consists of the two UEFA Champions League Finalists.
Players Featured Alongside Katie McCabe
The team is dominated by Barcelona, who were winners of the tournament. They occupy six of the starting eleven spots, with Lucy Bronze, Aitana Bonmatí, Mapi León and Graham Hansen all featuring for the Spanish side.
The rest of the 11 featured in the squad is made up of players from German side Wolfsburg who were runners-up in the tournament. Alexandra Popp, Melre Frohms, Lena Oberdorf and Ewa Pajor, were the four players selected from Wolfsburg.
Katie McCabe will now shift her focus to international football as the Irish national team is only seven weeks away from playing in their first-ever Women's World Cup.
McCabe alongside her teammates are now preparing to join the national team ahead of their two friendlies scheduled at the end of the moment as they gear up for the World Cup starting next month.
Ireland will play their final two home games in Tallaght Stadium before jetting down under to play their first World Cup game against hosts Australia.
Ireland will play Zambia on June 22nd and France on July 6th in Tallaght Stadium before flying out to the tournament.
SEE ALSO: Ireland's Draw Confirmed For Inaugural Women's Nations League
