2023 Women's World Cup: Ireland won’t defend Against Super Falcons, Others- Pauw

2023 Women's World Cup: Ireland won’t defend Against Super Falcons, Others- Pauw

Ibraheem Lateef

Ireland boss Vera Pauw has insisted her radically reshaped squad will not head into their maiden World Cup simply seeking to defend, BSNSports.com.ng has sourced.

The women's Mundial will take place between the 20th of July and the 20th of August 2023 and will be co-hosted for the first time outside Europe and America by Australia and New Zealand.

Both teams will clash in the last group B game at the Suncorp Stadium on the 31st of July.

“Hard work pays off, but the harsh decisions are the worst that you have to make,” said the Dutch woman, who raised eyebrows amongst some of the team’s supporters by omitting Megan Campbell, Aoife Mannion, Jamie Finn, and Leanne Kiernan from her 23-woman squad.

“We have a balanced team going forward, touch wood that we don’t get injuries, and I’m proud of where we are now.

“There is so much variety without losing our structure. You need luck, if you get two goals against in the first five minutes because of whatever, then it turns all around.

“But I’m so sure that we are going to make everybody proud if we can make it out of the group.

“We go every game in to win – but we also know that we play Australia, Canada, and Nigeria.

“We know we have to be realistic, but we do everything in that.

“With the players we have now, it will not be just keeping the other teams away from our goal, because we have too much quality on the pitch.

“That’s what the balance is in our team, that the players that need freedom can get freedom because they’re backed up, and that is so strong in our team now.”

Pauw believes she has two players capable of thriving in every position and, with Kyra Carusa now operating as a target woman, her side can offer much more support in attack rather than relying on an overtly counter-attacking approach.

“The long throw-in is out,” she said, alluding to the luckless Campbell’s ongoing injury.

“We’re building the team, and it’s related to Australia,” she added, confirming that captain Katie McCabe, with whom she consulted about her squad, will remain in her left wing-back role.

“The whole set-up is related to going to Australia to play Australia, to play Canada, so there will not be major changes.”