Fatigue and fundamental errors leave Ireland exposed again against USA
Republic of Ireland players, from left, Jessie Stapleton, Ruesha Littlejohn and Caitlin Hayes react after conceding their fourth goal to USA. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
In the Land of the free, Ireland were prone to presenting gifts to their American hosts.
This pair of friendlies against the top ranked nation in the world were billed as ideal preparation for the Uefa Nations League playoff against Belgium in October.
That sales pitch was compromised once USA manager Emma Hayes excused all bar one of her foreign-based players for the exercises.
Hence the team she fielded in Thursday’s first outing in Colorado was akin to a second string. That she chose to change the entire XI from that 4-0 stroll for this rematch indicated she was dipping into her third selection of personnel.
That scoreline was easily repeated here but the biggest cheer of the sweltering afternoon came when the turkey shoot was complete, the introduction of Rose Lavelle for her 112th cap.
Renowned as the Queen of her City, the centurion with an Irish grandfather was hardly needed here to execute another hiding for Ireland.
Fundamental lapses again hurt Ireland, from the eleventh minute when the defence was sprung to allow captain Lynn Biyendolo volley home, to four minutes from the end as Alyssa Thompson roamed clear to beat Courtney Brosnan.
Extracting positives will be difficult. Carla Ward can point to the absences of their two marquee players, Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan, yet the lack of effort on goal over the 180 minutes is still telling.
When opportunities arose from that traditional route of set-pieces, Ireland were substandard. Anna Patten was unable to connect properly with Chloe Mustaki’s free-kick while substitute Megan Connolly sent her delivery straight into the goalkeeper’s hands.
Overall, it seemed the distance between the teams was far wider than 24 places in Fifa’s standings.
Kyra Carusa did get one sight in the first half, only to ripple the sidenet when set up by her strike partner Saoirse Noonan.
Patten told RTÉ: “Words cannot describe how difficult it was. Playing against a team of that calibre with a two-day break in that heat was ridiculous.
“We didn’t have enough options when we had the ball. That’s when we can get our breath. Our aim is to get to Brazil and it’s important to know what it feels like and how best we can prepare in this temperature.”
It marks the third 4-0 defeat in eight games in the Ward era but the most damaging was the loss to a Slovenian side in February ranked behind them.
Margin for error in League B was minimal for Ireland to regain their spot in the top tier and by the end of the six-match series a second placed finish left Ireland needing to overcome the Belgians for an easier path to another World Cup when the qualifiers kick off next February.
This was another victory earned at pedestrian pace. Mustaki was caught upfield, enabling Emily Sams to bomb down the right and float a cross for Biyendolo to volley into the top corner.
Chances continued to flow for the hosts and their second arrived three minutes before the break when Ireland failed to clear.
Brosnan did well to keep out Sears from point-blank range but the rebound fell kindly for Izzy Rodriguez to crown her debut with a first goal.
Fatigue clearly kicking off, Ward rang changes at the break without it altering the pattern of dominance.
On 66 minutes, Coffey showed determination to keep the ball from crossing the endline. Two passes later and Yasmine Ryan was able to smash a low drive into the bottom corner.
Damage limitation continued for Ireland but they were unable to avoid a fourth. Thompson, considered one of the few first-choices to feature, made an instant impact off the bench by ghosting in behind and finishing with aplomb.
Ward spoke afterwards about getting her players home safely and it's questionable the value of these humblings were for the competitive contest in four months’ time.
M McGlynn; E Sams, J Bugg, T McKeown; C Bethune (A Sentnor 63), S Meza (R Lavelle 87), I Rodriguez, L Biyendolo (S Coffey 63); O Moultrie (C Hutton 80), E Sears, Y Ryan (A Thompson 80).
C Brosnan; J Stapleton, C Hayes, A Patten, C Mustaki (H Nolan 46); E Murphy (M Connolly 46), T Toland, M Sheva, A Larkin (Lucy Quinn 80); K Carusa, S Noonan (A Barrett 60).
Janeishka Caban (Puerto Rico)
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