Ciara Grant: Pride, frustration and a measure of how far we've come

It’s a good measure of how far we’ve come that we weren’t outplayed, weren’t in any way outclassed.

PRIDE AND FRUSTRATION: A mix of emotions after Ireland opening loss to Australia - pride at the performance and frustration at the missed chances . Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

It’s a strange feeling, this mix of pride and frustration. It’s such a compliment to this Irish team, that I was gutted following a narrow World Cup defeat against one of the tournament favourites, full of players who star for top Champions League teams. As the disappointment fades over the next few days, I know it’s pride that will rise to the surface.

Beforehand, it was quite emotional, watching on TV, seeing the teams in the tunnel, the Irish women ready to take their place on football’s biggest stage. And to see both teams smile as they heard the roars of 81,000 supporters. In that moment, you couldn’t calculate how far we’ve come.