Quinn: 'We take our learnings' and move on for Canada game Wednesday

CONTROL WHAT YOU CAN: Ireland's Kyra Carusa tells teammate Marissa Sheva not to let penalty define tournament. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

A growing record to extend top-10 nations should silence the doubters, insists Ireland’s veteran defender Niamh Fahey.

She alongside Louise Quinn and Megan Connolly in defence are developing into a cohesive triumvirate, with Aoife Mannion to swell the competition when over his latest knee injury.

Last night’s display, punctured solely by a momentary lapse that conceded a penalty, offers substance to the theory that Vera Pauw’s side can continue to beat those around them and compete for more major tournaments.

“I don’t listen too much but probably a lot of media has written us off completely as the whipping girls,” the Galway native pondered about a team that’s faced heavyweights USA and France in recent months.

“That’s in the media. We tend not to listen too much about that as we know our strengths and our qualities.

“We were unlucky against Australia. There is no point to a moral victory. The only thing is we take our learnings and what we do well. Yeah, there are things we have to improve, just work on those and it’s a quick turnaround for Canada on Wednesday so we can’t dwell too long.

“We’re able to compete on the world stage. Once Australia scored the goal, we had to come out a bit more.

“We more than put it up to them and created a couple of chances towards the end. So yeah, we’re able to be here, I suppose it’s nice to be here and prove to ourselves with the performance. We belong here.” 

Meanwhile, Kyra Carusa insists players going down in the penalty area is not something you want to see after Australia spoiled their World Cup debut.

Steph Catley’s spot kick seven minutes after the restart settled this Group B opener played in front of a record domestic crowd of 75,784 at the Sydney Olympic Stadium.

Marissa Sheva was deemed the culprit from a tussle with Hayley Raso, an infringement she hotly contested.

But once the Arsenal mainstay rippled the top corner of the net, the guilt gripped her and she was substituted in tears. Carusa, leading the attack ahead of Sheva, had sympathy for her fellow American.

“One thing was the difference-maker today,” summarised the London Lionesses forward.

“You want to control what you can control and then it is just tough to see. A long cross is put in the box and someone goes down and it gets called a penalty. That is not something you want to see.

“I told Marissa there were plenty of minutes, plenty of matches to be played in this World Cup. Plenty.

“Don’t let that define anything. Keep your head up, don’t let them see you cry, don’t let them.” The Aussies, even without star striker Sam Kerr with a calf injury only divulged when the teams were announced, had to endure a couple of scary moments as their profligacy offered hope to Ireland.

Set-pieces, unsurprisingly, posed the biggest danger – Megan Connolly a yard off replicating her 20-yard free in Finland which got the successful qualifiers up and running.

Kate McCabe’s corner had to be punched away from under her crossbar by Mackensie Arnold, while Louise Quinn was a yard away from send her header into the corner.

“Katie’s energy is contagious and when that girl presses up the field like she does, everyone is behind her,” she explained.

“When Katie steps up on her side of the field, we all go. We talk about it all the time, when we go, we go as a team, that we always stick together in that and Katie leads us in that.

“I think our second-half performance showed that even more and there are so many positives to take from a game like this, against the host nation Australia and to literally for the game to end like that. We would all want to go out and play that game again, that is certainly what I feel like.” 

Looking ahead to Canada in Perth on Wednesday, she said: “We are all going to be watching each other very carefully and how we are playing against the other opponents and what performances we are bringing out but I am excited to look at our next game against Canada.” Ireland complete Group B on Monday, July 31 against Nigeria in Brisbane, with two of the four nations progressing to the last-16.