Katie McCabe: I can feel the Cork support already when you're walking by shops and pubs

Ireland face Slovenia at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in a Nations League promotion decider on Tuesday.

Tue, 03 Jun, 2025 - 06:00

Stephen Barry

Katie McCabe feels the football calendar needs a major overhaul as Ireland face into a Nations League promotion decider against Slovenia at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Just 10 days ago, the Arsenal stalwart was starring in their Champions League final triumph over Barcelona.

Since then, she has enjoyed a trophy parade at the Emirates Stadium, a player-of-the-match award in Friday’s 2-1 comeback victory over Turkey, and now, this key clash on Leeside.

Later this month, Ireland will travel to Colorado and Cincinnati for back-to-back friendlies against world number one side USA. McCabe will not be joining them as she takes a well-earned rest.

The squeeze is not just a product of European success. Last summer, McCabe’s club crammed in a post-season friendly in Australia before she returned home for international duty. Within weeks of the famous French victory in Cork, she was off to America for a pre-season tour.

“It's the whole calendar. I don't know who's in charge of it, but it definitely needs to be looked at,” said McCabe.

“What it will create over time, and we've already seen it in recent years, is burnout in players and major injuries.

“You've got world-class players that will be sitting out of tournaments through injuries. We don't want to see that. We want the best players in the world playing at tournaments on the biggest stage.

“I just hope it doesn't cause too much more harm to us as players going forward.

“Like what we had to do last year, all through the summer, where you're finishing a season and you've to kind of rest but kind of keep fit for the next block of games. It's hard mentally and physically, from a periodisation point of view, to do that. So the timing of the fixtures needs to be looked at.”

The Ireland captain is equally bamboozled by the convoluted procedure for World Cup qualification.

“It’s nuts, the set-up,” she said. “The goals, points, relegation, and promotion. All we can concentrate on is winning games and progressing performances game by game.

“I’ll let youse all do the maths and we focus on winning matches.”

The jam-packed schedule made it more difficult for the Irish players to rebound from their Euro 25 play-off defeat to Wales. That brought an acrimonious end to Eileen Gleeson’s tenure, with Carla Ward taking the helm in January.

“It hurt coming into the next camp,” said McCabe. “There was so much change, so much noise around the FAI and us as a team. Ultimately, it affected me because we didn’t get to a tournament.

“I know we’re footballers, but we’re also human, and when you’re striving towards something that you crave so much as a team but then don’t achieve, it takes its toll on you. So that first camp was really difficult.

“Being around the other girls in the last few months, you get to open up and chat through things, talk about what we could have done better.

“Then, there are changes of players. But there comes a time when you have to move past it. Just go, ‘Okay, that happened. Let’s just see how we can improve now going forward.’

“Look, it’s going to be difficult with the Euros on this July. I’ll probably turn my telly off. I won’t be watching it. It’s going to hurt, but we have to feel that.

“Keep striving to get better, and obviously World Cup 2027 is a big driving force for us.”

That first camp back ended in calamity as Slovenia tore Ireland to shreds in a 4-0 defeat.

As a consequence, Ireland require a four-goal win on Leeside if they are to overhaul Slovenia for League A promotion.

McCabe insists the team must be “miles better” than their 2-1 comeback victory in Turkey if they are to achieve that ambition. But the need for goals doesn’t change the approach too much.

“If we don't score the first one, you can forget about the fourth,” she said. “We just have to be fully concentrated on how we're setting up the game plan and executing it as best as possible.

“For us, we know we can score goals in a lot of different ways. But if we want to top this group, we have to be miles better than we were on Friday night, all over the pitch.”

They can draw on last summer’s famous 3-1 success against France for inspiration.

“That France game will stick with us for a long time,” said McCabe. “It was an amazing crowd, a fantastic day, and a remarkable result against one of the best teams in the world.

“I've taken a walk into town over the last day or two, and I can feel the support already when you're walking by shops and pubs on the bank holiday weekend. Everyone's cheering us on.

“We hope the fans come in their numbers and really help to get us over the line.”