Ireland's World Cup hopefuls now play the waiting game

Confidence and form are not commodities to be treated lightly approaching World Cups. Irish teams across various sporting codes have learned as much

Sat, 24 Jun, 2023 - 07:30

Brendan O'Brien

By full-time, the tension in Tallaght Stadium early on Thursday evening had been sucked from the atmosphere like humidity after a rain storm and the Republic of Ireland players looked ahead to a weekend off and next week's World Cup squad announcement.

Another four days of training camp beckon when they reconvene before Vera Pauw shares who has, and hasn’t, made the cut for the final 23 but the friendly against Zambia was, really, the last big chance for those on the fringe to turn some heads.

It almost felt like school was out. Results would follow in the post.

Leanne Kiernan exuded calm on the back of her 45 first-half minutes, even if they hadn’t gone entirely her way. There was an acknowledgement that she can be that bit “sharper” but then the same could be said for more than a few others.

Liverpool’s leading scorer when the club won promotion to the WSL two seasons ago, she suffered a long-term injury on the first day of the most recent campaign and only managed 32 minutes at the fag end of the domestic calendar.

There was always going to be a rustiness to her efforts but there was a seven-minute spell after the half-hour when she had a goal disallowed for offside, helped to play Abbie Larkin in for a header, and had another attempt of her own blocked by the keeper.

All timely reminders of her abilities.

“The last nine months, I put all the work in that I could, to prove that I am good enough to go,” she reasoned. “I guess it’s just out of my hands now, isn’t it? So there is no point in stressing over something you can’t control. Just chill, wait and see.”

Claire O’Riordan was just as zen.

Another of Pauw’s players to have missed a chunk of the season with injury, the 28-year old made it back into the Celtic side for the last few games of the campaign and scored in the Scottish Cup final defeat of Rangers at Hampden Park.

It was then that Pauw decided she had to play some part in this summer’s adventure and the Limerick woman surely cemented her spot with a goal in the 3-2 defeat of the African side and a goal-saving intervention earlier in the game.

O’Riordan was struck by cramp late on but stayed on to the end. The goal was the first of her international career and her boss was fulsome in her praise for the effort afterwards. No wonder the defender was so relaxed about Thursday’s squad reveal in UCD.

“I love to sleep,” she joked. “No issues.”

Confidence and form are not commodities to be treated lightly approaching World Cups. Irish teams across various sporting codes have learned as much, some too late in the day, so a player with O’Riordan’s momentum can be a useful asset over the course of a tournament.

“My mindset, for me, coming off the season with Celtic, was making sure I was fit and healthy, that I had a good rhythm and confidence after finishing up the season, playing games and putting myself in the best position possible to be selected for this camp.

“I finished up with Celtic with a cup final win, winning a trophy, scoring a goal, and being player of the match. Honestly, there was no better way to finish up the season and come in here. The most important thing was to be able to pick that up and try and be able to take off.”