Ireland WNT manager Vera Pauw shed light on her ongoing contract negotiations at the pre-match Zambia press conference on Wednesday
The Dutch native mentioned that for now she’s “busy” with the World Cup, but alluded to the fact that she is “very happy in Ireland” and that the talks are continuing to prolong her stay beyond the 2023 tournament.
When you hear there’s finally a WNT game tomorrow 🙌 pic.twitter.com/luzxFt5HsK
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) June 21, 2023
“We need to be ready on the 20th of July, that needs my full, full attention. We have our plans in between the games and we’ll see how far we come and if things are going fine then I’m going to plan for after” she says.
“Let me be clear, I’m very happy in Ireland, everybody can see that. Everybody feels that.
“I want to stay, but I’m not part of that process. Ciaran Medlar [her representative] is talking. I’m not involved in that. I do talk of course about the content with management, like I always do, but he takes care of that.”
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In the thick of camp now and hurdling towards the warm up game vs Zambia tomorrow evening at 7:30pm in front of a sold out Tallaght Stadium, Pauw goes on to explain how she’s “proud” that they’ve picked up no injuries during training thus far even with the staggered season conclusions and periodization of sessions.
She does however mentioned that due to release dates that it is “unlikely” captain Katie McCabe will feature.
“We have players six weeks out of their league, we have players two weeks out of their league, we have players coming straight from their league, we have players coming back from injury and having their first minutes on the pitch, we have a player getting married and coming in [Diane Caldwell], we have a player who was not allowed by her club to come in and only came in on Monday [McCabe]” she says.
"So all those different backgrounds and the players are now so used to how we deal with that, but the fact that they buy in completely, I am so proud.
"I think there is a huge balance in our squad, with a lot of quality, with so many people, players who buy in completely. That is the secret of how we really feel we work together. That’s what I get from them and what they get from us. Togetherness in each and every task is what has brought us this far. If it is good enough on July 20 we will see but it’s going really, really well."
Uncertainty still circles around the fitness of a few players however, namely Manchester United’s Aoife Mannion, who, after recovering from an ACL injury earlier this year is still unsure will she make it back in time for the Australia and New Zealand competition.
“Aoife is in her return to play” Vera Pauw begins.
“The brace will go off on Monday and then we have to take a decision.
“Everything has been going according to plan, but it’s really, really tight. We will see on Monday, we will give more updates and next week with the squad announcement we will know for sure whether we will take a chance or not.”
With that very squad announcement set to yield some tough cuts from a 31 to a 23 woman squad, Pauw admits that she is “really nervous” about having to “break dreams.”
“The fact that this is coming up gives me sleepless nights” she says.
“Players need to get the chance to prove themselves and we will give that chance to all the players that we feel need that.
“I think that is all I should say about it, because it is for them so much worse than it is for me.”
Day one of the #FIFAWWC 2023 just got bigger!
The first match to take place in Australia, featuring the @TheMatildas taking on the Republic of Ireland, will now be played at the tournament’s largest venue, Stadium Australia 🇦🇺🏟— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) January 30, 2023
Who’s going to make Vera Pauw’s 23?
One of those very players accompanied Pauw to the press conference itself in Chloe Mustaki, who echoed her points in relation to the competition for places within the squad.
“Everyone needs to prove themselves” Mustaki says, insisting that there are the “highest standards [they’ve] ever had” to date within the confines of camp.
“It’s not visibly tense. We are a close-knit group and we can support each other during these nerve-wracking times and whoever doesn’t get to go, we will be supporting them also” she adds.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for the nation and that’s what we are so happy about.”
The 2023 Women’s World Cup pandemonium officially starts tomorrow with the Girls In Green lining up Zambia for their penultimate game prior to taking off for Oz and serving as ample groundwork for their upcoming group fixtures.
“The reason we chose to play against Zambia is because we have Nigeria in our World Cup Group so we must be ready for that type of opponent” Pauw says.
