Barrett's Ireland want to inspire male teams too
INSPIRE ALL: Amber Barrett touches the black armband after scoring the crucial goal against Scotland at Hampden Park. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Amber Barrett says Ireland want to leave a lasting legacy at the Women's World Cup — and not just for women's football.
The 27-year-old who scored the playoff winner against Scotland that secured Ireland's place at the tournament, hopes this qualification can inspire future teams, whatever their gender.
"That's the ultimate hope, that we can increase that,(legacy) but not just for the women's team," she said in an interview with the FIFA website.
"But also for young boys as well, that they have also the aspiration of, 'We've seen the women do it, we want to be able to do it for the men's team as well'.
"And I think with that will come, hopefully, more people involved, better players in the future, and then also more Irish teams at major tournaments."
Barrett warned their World Cup opponents not to underestimate them.
"We're going to make it very difficult for everybody. But again, we're going to also relish the fact that we're there because there's only 32 countries in the world get that opportunity. To be one of them is extra special.
"We find that we always do well, but had never done enough to get ourselves to that magical place, which is a European Championship or the World Cup. That feeling for everybody was just unbelievable. It really, really was."
Barrett paid tribute to the realism of manager Vera Pauw, for balancing belief and pragmatism.
“She never says, 'You're the best team in the world'. But she believes that we can beat any team in the world, and to have that type of confidence from a manager is really important.”
The team has touched down at their Brisbane base, where Pauw reiterated yesterday an ambition to upset the world rankings to progress, despite being grouped with Canada and Australia, both rated among the world's top 10 sides.
"Something proves only to be impossible the moment it shows to be impossible, and that is our slogan," Pauw said at an open training session in front of Irish fans at Brisbane's Meakin Park.
"We get everything out of ourselves, we prepare the best we can. We have a fantastic programme to prepare ourselves and we give our all. We give the best that we have at that moment.
"But in that we need to be realistic. It's our first World Cup. We do not have as many players as others have, but we have a fantastic group with a heart for Ireland.
"That is immense. We stick together. We're a team. We work for each other and we give ourselves for each other, and that is our biggest strength."
The Dutch boss gave an encouraging injury update, confirming her squad was fully fit including captain Katie McCabe, who gave supporters a scare when she tweaked her ankle in a friendly against France last week but has already fully participated in training.
The Arsenal player of the season and her team-mates have been adjusting to the significant time difference through regimented scheduling protocol, though they have avoided the light-altering sunglasses worn by England's Lionesses.
Pauw said: "The doctor showed there is no evidence and we want to just keep things simple.
"We use the daylight as our guide, we go out of the hotel a lot, we have a lot of free time to be out and with our families and friends to get the sunshine in their eyes.
"This is why we are here, the jet-lag is part of it. You don't have to be. You can be sitting at home with the feet on the couch watching a movie. Playing elite sport is a choice and that is comfortable at times and uncomfortable at times. We just need to get over it."
Pauw was at all the World Cups from 1999-2015 as part of the technical study group, but reminded "now is the first time I'm along the sideline, so it's very special for all of us".
The reality of a first World Cup is still in many ways sinking in, but the support seems to be popping up at every turn since Pauw's squad landed in Australia, where 80,927 Ireland-born people were recorded in the 2021 census and many more consider themselves to have Irish heritage.
Pauw added: "It feels especially real because we've met so many Irish people. The whole of Dublin was with our billboards and our slogan 'outbelieve'.
"We do outbelieve. We do outbelieve we can do something. We know where we stand, we know that we are the underdogs, and it's not playing but that is the case. We're 22 in the world ranking list and we're improving, but we know we have to be realistic and we will give our all."
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