From heartache to big breaks, Vera Pauw’s 23 woman World Cup squad announcement today had everything, if not everyone fans expected.
Explaining this morning that the days leading up to the agonizing decision have been “devastating”, the Ireland manager emphasised that revealing who had made the cut was the “worst day” of her career.
“It’s been so difficult” she says.
Here they are!
Your @FIFAWWC squad announcement is here ☘️ pic.twitter.com/RGjaLvQnDH— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) June 28, 2023
“I've never experienced this before. It's the bond that I have with the players. It's the hard work. It's also how they stood behind me in difficult times. It's how the FAI stood behind me, it’s how Ireland has embraced me and its everything together I think.
“Telling players that really stood up for you, that you're not taking them to the World Cup and break their dreams.
“We are convinced we’ve made the right decisions although they’ve been very, very hard” she says.
Shattering those aspirations for some and igniting belief for others, Pauw outlined the reasoning behind the big talking points of both her omissions and selections.
Jamie Finn - the 'hardest' omission
You have to feel for Jamie Finn. Played in 5 games in qualifying, suspended for Slovakia game and straight back in for playoff win v Scotland.
Hasn’t featured in last 4 games but massively involved in qualifying campaign!! Must have been the worst news to hear!! https://t.co/OmPHuK1kIS— Conan Byrne (@conanbyrnecb7) June 28, 2023
Having played five games in the qualification campaign, including in the playoff vs Scotland, Jamie Finn is perhaps one of the unluckiest to miss out on the 23.
She does however still have a seat on the plane, acting as one of the three standby or non playing travelling squad members who can enter the team should someone else become injured up up to July 10.
Citing this exclusion as the hardest, Pauw explained how a change in formation and style may have contributed to the Birmingham City player being dropped from the squad.
“She’s been part of that squad all of the time but we’ve changed our playing system. We have Kyra Carusa as a target player and we brought Heather Payne to the right side, with pace on the wing” she says.
“There’s also players who have jumped up levels. These options mean you have to take tough decisions. Jamie, especially because she played and the credit that she has, we’ve got every single video moment of her, also in the last two weeks.
“You’ve seen Jamie has not been involved in the last few games. That’s tactical. It’s not because of her. That’s elite sport, that’s football, as much as we wanted her to be part of it.”
Adding that she is “so happy” that Finn is still a part of the training squad, Pauw goes on to say that she has made sure arrangements are in place for her, Harriet Scott and Sophie Whitehouse.
“I’ve had contact with FIFA yesterday three times to make sure that everything is arranged for them” she says.
“We will really take care of them, it’s so important that Jamie and Harriet are involved.”
Too late for Aoife Mannion, Megan Campbell and Leanne Kiernan?
No Megan Campbell long throws at the World Cup.
Sickener.— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) June 28, 2023
Other notable exclusions were that of Liverpool’s Megan Campbell and Leanne Kiernan, as well as Manchester United’s Aoife Mannion, who all had struggled with injury or recovery from injury to varying degreees.
Kiernan, who played 40 minutes for her club and 45 minutes for Ireland during the Zambia clash since her comeback from an ankle injury can feel the most aggrieved, given her involvement in this camp to date.
“Unfortunately it’s the football fitness that’s part of that” Pauw says.
“We have given her the chance to fully train and to be with us. She did well, she did really, really well, but the data showed that the time between explosive actions were already getting longer during the first half.”
“That means that if other players are performing at a higher level, then technically you have to take that decision because it’s World Cup level. It’s even twice as a high a level as what we had against Zambia. It’s just that bit too early, unfortunately” she continues.
As for Mannion, Pauw describes that while she was completing return to play she was “not close at all” to being fit and that “unfortunately time ran out”, with the same applicable for Campbell - who misses out for personal reasons - in that there was “no chance” because “the risk would have been too big.”
Why bring four goalkeepers?
#Brosnan2024 🇮🇪 #EFC can confirm we have activated the option to extend goalkeeper @court_brosnan18's contract until the end of 2024.
— Everton Women (@EvertonWomen) June 28, 2023
With Courtney Brosnan, Grace Moloney and Megan Walsh in the 23, Pauw also faced questions over her decision to include Whitehouse in the three players on her standby list, putting the choice down to FIFA guidelines.
“The rules and regulations are that you have to have three goalkeepers on the team sheet. So if there’s a goalkeeper on matchday minus one that gets injured, we will not have three goalkeeper son the team sheet” she says, although she believes this will differ across the teams depending on their proximity to Australia and New Zealand.
“We have to bring an extra goalkeeper as a training player. If we didn’t have the decision from FIFA to be able to bring training players, we would have brought a goalkeeper anyway but not part of the squad – to be there in Australia because you cannot fly in a goalkeeper at the last moment.
“If the World Cup had been in Europe you could fly in a goalkeeper, but not in Europe. There’s another issue, when we’re there we must play seven-a-side so for training purposes you have to have four goalkeepers.”
Joy and despair for the WPD players at the World Cup Squad Announcement?
Brisbane bound 🇦🇺#IrishRovers l #COYGIG pic.twitter.com/PWlWpe08VX
— Shamrock Rovers Women (@RoversWomen) June 28, 2023
Two current Women’s Premier Division players made the cut in Shamrock Rovers’ Abbie Larkin and Aine O’Gorman, with nine former home based players also in 23 woman squad.
There was however disappointment for Peamount United’s Erin McLaughlin and Tara O’Hanlon, with the reason the latter was left out attributed to the rapid rise of West Ham’s Izzie Atkinson.
“Well it's no secret that our National League is not at the level of the WSL in England. That's clear. Those [home-based] sessions have been really, really important to get not only Áine and Abbie on the level of the others - they are now physically on the level of the others, the data shows that so it's been incredibly successful” she says.
“Tara [O'Hanlon], the only reason why she did not make it was Izzy was jumping up so well. We all know that, we've all seen that, and that's no secret.
“She was ready as an 18-year-old to play at this level. The home-based sessions and the way that we've approached that, with explosivity, circuits, power, playing against boys, that has made the difference.”
“The only reason why Tara is not making it is because Izzie is jumping up five levels at the moment.”
Were the USA players always going to be picked?
SINEAD FARRELLY IS GOING TO THE @FIFAWWC!! 😭🧡💚🏆 pic.twitter.com/ppqKEky82l
— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) June 28, 2023
In short, yes.
Having arrived into camp just yesterday, the timing of the USA based players addition into camp was always going to be suggestive of their potential inclusion in the 23.
Cork’s Denise O’Sullivan would be one of the first names alongside captain Katie McCabe, but new recruits Sinead Farrelly and Marissa Sheva were the ones up for contention.
“You've seen [Farrelly’s] quality? USA game first cap into a squad completely new being so dominant and she remember she has done everything herself and after she got her passport we got contact, so her heart is here, she wants to be here and that was before we qualified that she started the process.
“We've had many players been dumped on my desk in my email then after that try to jump on the bandwagon because there's a World Cup that we qualified for. We did not go into that we only went for the players who were there and fully, with a full heart, done all the job that they had to do over the last two years because it's a two year process”
“Sinead only get in contact after she got her passport, Marrisa was before we qualified already that that was process was going on and the only thing that we helped with was the clearance for playing for Ireland.”
What’s next?
With the France warm up game upcoming on July 6th before the team jet out the following day to Oz, there’s plenty to look forward to in the coming weeks.
The periodisation policy was working in full flow since camp opened, and now the fitness levels of the players are more or less “equal now”, leaving room for more a more technical and tactical focus now.
“There's no injuries, there's not even a little muscle injury or an ankle injury, there's nothing at all in our camp and the fitness levels are jumping up so yeah, I'm really, really proud of that” Pauw says.
“I have no doubt that everybody will be ready. We need to touch wood” she jokes.
Pointing out that the France clash is “fully preparation for the Australia game” she explains that the “best team will start”, which might give more of an insight into the kind of side Ireland will expect to field come the opening World Cup fixture vs Australia on July 20th.
