WITH 63 MINUTES gone on the clock during Ireland’s first ever World Cup game, Abbie Larkin’s earlier decision to put all her focus on football instead of sitting the Leaving Cert like other girls her age was vindicated.
The 18-year-old was about to enter the fray against the Matildas in the first Group B match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.
The camera caught her beaming, drinking in the atmosphere of an at-capacity 75,000 seater Stadium Australia.
Vera Pauw is a coach known for sticking with her own knowns. So the fact the young Shamrock Rovers star broke into the squad, nevermind the finishing 11, was already a huge achievement.
Pauw isn’t the only person to have taken Larkin in.
Being subbed off, Sinéad Farrelly matched her teammate’s smile when she realised who was coming on for her. A few seconds earlier, Lucy Quinn had shared what looked to be words of wisdom with her less experienced colleague.
At her first training camp in Marbella back in February, it seemed the youngster was having difficulty adjusting to the pace and physicality of senior football. But the players surrounding her picked up on all the things she was doing right and praising her loudly and often.
It’s a method we know has continued. Pauw spoke to her at half-time in the warmup game against Zambia, reminding her to be calm as she played, to be confident, to express herself.
Forty-five minutes of football later and she had a seat on the plane to Australia.
Pauw continued that praise tonight despite the one-nil defeat.
“We made changes so that there would not only be control but more opportunism in our play because we needed to score and Lucy and Abbie did fantastically,” she told reporters.
In fact, she came incredibly and heartbreakingly close to being centrally involved in what would have been a last-minute equaliser.
Taking on a through-ball from Heather Payne, she drove into the box and with a quick glance pulled it back to captain Katie McCabe.
It was the exact person you’d want in that exact position but the Arsenal star couldn’t get her feet and body lined up to get the necessary power for the shot.
Opportunity missed.
But potential detected.
In the 33 minutes Larkin played, there were many bright spots to earn Pauw’s rare, effusive praise.
A wayward or heavy first touch here and there were the only signs of a teenager catapulted into such a scene.
“It was unbelievable,” Courtney Brosnan said in media interviews after the game.
The goalkeeper revealed how well she has been going in training this week.
“So I was really happy for her,” she added. “She got her moment to step onto the pitch and I think she rose to the occasion. She showed what she can do at such a young age – driving with the ball at world class players.
“Everyone’s ecstatic for her. I think it just shows this is just the start for her and obviously she’s going have a long career here.”
Lone forward Kyra Carusa was equally emphatic, while observing that Larkin has really ‘grown up fast’.
“It is quite special,” she added.
“It was all of our World Cup debuts but an 18-year-old to come out on that stage – against some of the best players in the world and go out one-v-one and whip some balls into the box, it is everything you want to see.
“And it just shows what kind of player and what kind of talent she has, because she is young and she is in this environment and she is learning every day, she has grown so much.
“I was just beaming watching her, she is growing so much and she brings so much to the table. There is a lot ahead of her, a lot ahead of Abbie.”
Back home, Larkin’s uncle had organised a watch party in their native Ringsend with musicians, dancers and Ireland and Larkin paraphernalia.
A significant cheer went up as she made her way onto the pitch. The attendees would have seen that moment as a win in itself.
