AMBER BARRETT MAY forever be the Hero of Hampden, but she knows that alone won’t secure her golden ticket to the World Cup this summer.
The Republic of Ireland striker is fighting for her place in Vera Pauw’s squad, with competition — and concern — hitting new heights Stateside this week.
“I think every player has to have that in the back of their minds,” Barrett told the media from Texas yesterday. “They know there’s 23 positions up for grabs and I don’t think anyone can say they’re definitely going.”
In truth, uncertainty has been the theme of Barrett’s season.
The Donegal native joined Turbine Potsdam last summer after establishing herself in the Frauen-Bundesliga with FC Köln, but it’s been a stop-start campaign, with individual setbacks compounded by her team’s status at the bottom of the table.
“For the first six or seven league games I was playing right back, which is still a wee bit mad to be perfectly honest with you as I don’t think defending is my strong point,” she explained.
“After that there I had a bit of a dip with injuries I picked up at the wrong times. Coming back in after Christmas, I didn’t get back into full-team training until February. I suppose it is only two months back full training and it takes a little bit of time to get back up to 100% but I am getting more game time than I was. It is still something I have to build on.
“Performances in training count for that as well. I definitely feel after the last Ireland camp, my confidence with fitness is growing all the time. I still have five or six games to get back on the pitch.”
A nasty shoulder injury, sustained against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the first week of December, kept her off it for long enough.
“Had a tackle with a player and landed on my shoulder,” Barrett recalled. “I ruptured one of the ligaments on my shoulder, tore my deltoid muscle as well and had a lot of bone bruising.
“To be honest with you, I think the bone bruising was the biggest thing to get over. I had a very slow recovery from it, was in a sling for a while and you’re just trying to get back to basic movements and it is like everything else, as soon as you hurt it, you realise how important it is and how much you use it.
“It got to early January and I was only getting back into myself and with those things, I missed seven weeks of full-team training. I am not going to get that back quickly, it is going to take time and I had a very good conversation with Vera in the last camp and she wanted to manage that load and wanted me to get the best opportunity to be fit as soon as possible. It is good to have that and I am feeling much better now with it.”
Her focus has firmly been on football, but Barrett could be forgiven for being somewhat distracted in the past few months. Her profile has grown tenfold since That Goal in Glasgow, plenty of off-field opportunities arising as a result.
Just last month, she appeared on The Late Late Show and continued to capture the hearts and minds of the country. She has taken it all in her stride.
“I don’t think staying level has been the difficult part, I’m very lucky with the family and friends I have, I don’t think anybody would let me get carried away with myself and I don’t think that is in my character either. I don’t think that is the character of the team.
“It’s all part and parcel of it; success brings more media attention, it brings more public attention and those requirements, what you do on a daily basis, they increase a lot. I am still getting messages on Instagram, people want to send ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘Good Luck’ messages to fans and it is still brilliant to have that, that people value us that much that me sending a ‘Happy Birthday’ message is something that will make their kids’ day.
“And it is important to have those things. It has been a whirlwind last few months, but I have enjoyed every second of it.”
The rollercoaster continues in the USA as Pauw’s side prepare to face the world champions twice in three days. First, they do battle in Austin, Texas, on Saturday before meeting again in St Louis, Misouri, on Tuesday.
Denise O’Sullivan will earn her 100th cap in the opener, joining current players Áine O’Gorman, Louise Quinn and Niamh Fahey in the WNT Centurion Club.
Barrett can’t speak highly enough of the North Carolina Courage star, who she’ll be forever indebted to for That Assist in Hampden.
“Later down the line you’ll have something to tell the grandkids about and I think playing with Denise O’Sullivan is definitely something you will tell the grandkids about because I think she is one of the best, if not the best, Irish women’s footballer over the last 10 years.
“Look at the age of her, she is only 29, that says a lot about what she has done for Irish women’s football. Such a good personality to have, such a good footballer but most importantly, such a good person to have about.
“Everyone can learn from the way Denise carries herself on and off the field. For a woman who is so well travelled I think her best accomplishment is she hasn’t lost that Cork accent. We hold onto that as well!”
A huge challenge lies ahead, but it’s one Barrett and co. are relishing.
In recent weeks, Pauw has spoken about rejecting lesser friendly opponents and her side being capable of competing with the US. Barrett concurs.
“That’s the confidence Vera has always had in us,” she concluded. “A few years ago when we lost seven games in-a-row, the opposition was really tough. Everybody asked why we didn’t play an easier team, beat them and be back on a run? But then we beat Australia, a highly-ranked nation, and we started to believe in ourselves from competing against the best players and teams.
“It’s no different with the US. Of course it would be difficult for any team coming here but we’re always quietly confident about our performance. We have nothing to fear, we have proven that in the past, and nothing is going to change any time soon.”
