Louise Quinn: 'Katie McCabe made everyone aware she was Irish. She did not let go of that flag'
Winning the Champions League with Arsenal marks the pinnacle of Kate McCabe's club career. Pic: Daniela Porcelli /Sportsfile
For the best possible reason, Champions League winner Katie McCabe will belatedly link up with the Ireland squad today ahead of Friday’s fixture in Turkey.
Arsenal’s celebrations, with the Irishwoman to the fore, have circulated worldwide since she played an integral role in dethroning favourites Barcelona in Saturday’s final.
From Lisbon back to London for the victory parade, the 29-year-old was granted special allowance by Ireland boss Carla Ward to revel in the glory.
And how she has; her showreel of soundbites and videos from pitchside until the parade before 10,000 fans capturing the euphoria.
Not since the Irish trio of Emma Byrne, Ciara Grant and Yvonne Tracy won the trophy for the Gunners in 2007 had an English team conquered Europe.
It marks the pinnacle of McCabe’s club career and she’ll revert to more routine business when her flight lands in Istanbul.
While all her Gunners teammates based on this continent have the Euros to plan for in July, consuming Ireland’s itinerary for the second half of 2025 is mapping out a less arduous journey to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.
Nothing less than two victories against the bottom seeds on Friday and then group leaders Slovenia in Pairc Uí Chaoímh next Tuesday will redeem their Nations League winning prospects. That might not even be sufficient to steal top spot.
McCabe’s conversion to an attacking midfielder was one of the many experiments which backfired in the 4-0 drubbing by the Slovenians away in February. The presumption that another League B stroll beckoned dissolved that afternoon, confirming the team led by McCabe is struggling to remain among Europe’s elite nations.
The latest validation of her status as one of the English league’s standouts should boost Ireland in their quest to rekindle the spirit of 2022, when they qualified for a first World Cup and performed admirably at the tournament the following summer in Australia.
It didn’t translate into international strides for the three previous Irish winners but teammate Louise Quinn, for one, believes the benefits for the country will be widespread.
“It was huge,” said Quinn yesterday, bursting with pride at seeing her pal draped in the tricolour.
“She made everyone aware that she was Irish. She did not let go of that flag. It is in every picture.
“It’s just totally deserving. A picture tells a thousand words, starting with the three girls from 2007. And Katie has shown again what a young girl from Ireland can do.”
Quinn was once a young girl but, approaching her 35th birthday next month, is in swansong mode. Arsenal was one of the destinations along her career, winning trophies with McCabe, but one final appearance and a 122nd cap awaits over the next week.
Despite her retirement being announced by Birmingham City and the FAI, she asked to be considered for this final camp. Ward, her former club manager, was glad to oblige and the most likely scene for her farewell will be on Leeside.
“It's so hard to say when the decision was made,” Quinn said before training in the rain at Istanbul’s Olympic Stadium.
“You think of certain times that come up, potentially after Euros if we’d qualified.
“Then I'm playing with Blues Birmingham. If we got promoted as well, potentially playing WSL, all these things, but we didn’t.
“Even though the retirement thing came out, I'd probably just be like, 'Do you know what, let's put it on hold. Let's just wait!'
US-based Denise O’Sullivan and Kyra Carusa will also report in late as Ireland look to avoid another hiccup against a Turkish side they laboured to a 1-0 win over in Ward’s first match at the helm.
Also part of the set-up this week is Ward’s assistant Amber Whitely.
She’s waiting to discover if her caretaker stint as Liverpool manager is upgraded to permanent.
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