“Unbelievable,” she begins, hailing a remarkable performance which sets up a straight shootout for direct qualification away to France on Tuesday. The seeded play-off spot is secured either way.
Ward waxes lyrical for several minutes, before fielding the big question.
Can Ireland win in Grenoble?
“Yes.
“I told you that back at the Aviva, I said we can. And let me tell you now, I tell them every day they can. They can play against anyone, they can compete against anyone. And they’ve showed that tonight.”
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Anyone in the world?
“Yeah. Well look, Netherlands are top 10 in the world and look what we’ve done tonight.
“This group has a resilience, a character, but most importantly, a togetherness. We have a culture built on a family unit. It might sound cliche, but it is. We look after each other.
“We have a mentality where you look right, you look left, you look ahead, and you know that everyone’s got each other’s backs. You’ve got to live and die for each other and that goes for the staff and the players.
“I said to them in the huddle before we went out: your teammate misses a tackle, the next one takes one for the team. You f… excuse my French, you back each other up and you look after each other. And they do that. They are an absolute joy to work with, this group.”
Ward reserved special praise for Amber Barrett, who scored the 90th minute winner after earlier goals from Player of the Match Abbie Larkin and Kyra Carusa.
Barrett had spoken midweek about wanting to shed the super-sub tag, but that looks set to continue after the Hero of Hampden added another memorable goal to her collection.
“It’s great, isn’t it?” Ward smiles. “Super-sub Amber Barrett, I said that to her then. She was disappointed not to start, and rightly so. I like that.
Amber Barrett celebrates with Jess Ziu. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“She said to me at the end, ‘I told ya!’ I said, ‘No, I told you. I told you you were gonna come on and win us the game.’ They all understand this is all for the team, but she’s done tremendously well. She was the super-sub tonight, wasn’t she? They all were, to be fair.”
Larkin also got an individual mention. “I like Larko and I tell her all the time that she doesn’t know how good she is. I tell them all that, to be fair.
“Abbie has an abundance of quality and pace but sometimes doesn’t give herself enough credit. I told her that when she came off because she was buzzing.”
Ireland upset the odds without suspended duo Denise O’Sullivan and Emily Murphy, with Ward explaining her pre-match plan that Ruesha Littlejohn and Jess Ziu – both operating off limited minutes – would play a half each in midfield.
“(Littlejohn) trained so well this week. She leads in a way – you see it tonight, she pulls people around, she guides, she directs. I take my hat off to her, I said to her, ‘Give me everything for 45 minutes.’
“We knew we were going to change her then because she’s had limited minutes, but she did well, and Jess Ziu came on and did really well as well.
“They’re very different players, with slightly different ways of playing. So we knew that if we’re still in the game at half-time, then we’ve got a chance to be a little bit more aggressive in the second half, but play with the ball a little bit more.
“Look, the girls were fantastic tonight, every single one of them. And I think it’s a credit to them. Having Denise and Murph back for Tuesday will be absolutely huge.”
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Carla Ward: Ireland can beat France and qualify directly for the World Cup
CARLA WARD LAUGHS as she strides into the Páirc Uí Chaoimh press conference room, soaked to the skin but on top of the world.
The Ireland boss has just overseen a famous 3-2 win over Netherlands to incredibly keep hopes of automatic 2027 World Cup qualification burning bright.
“Unbelievable,” she begins, hailing a remarkable performance which sets up a straight shootout for direct qualification away to France on Tuesday. The seeded play-off spot is secured either way.
Ward waxes lyrical for several minutes, before fielding the big question.
Can Ireland win in Grenoble?
“Yes.
“I told you that back at the Aviva, I said we can. And let me tell you now, I tell them every day they can. They can play against anyone, they can compete against anyone. And they’ve showed that tonight.”
Anyone in the world?
“Yeah. Well look, Netherlands are top 10 in the world and look what we’ve done tonight.
“This group has a resilience, a character, but most importantly, a togetherness. We have a culture built on a family unit. It might sound cliche, but it is. We look after each other.
“I said to them in the huddle before we went out: your teammate misses a tackle, the next one takes one for the team. You f… excuse my French, you back each other up and you look after each other. And they do that. They are an absolute joy to work with, this group.”
Ward reserved special praise for Amber Barrett, who scored the 90th minute winner after earlier goals from Player of the Match Abbie Larkin and Kyra Carusa.
Barrett had spoken midweek about wanting to shed the super-sub tag, but that looks set to continue after the Hero of Hampden added another memorable goal to her collection.
“It’s great, isn’t it?” Ward smiles. “Super-sub Amber Barrett, I said that to her then. She was disappointed not to start, and rightly so. I like that.
“She said to me at the end, ‘I told ya!’ I said, ‘No, I told you. I told you you were gonna come on and win us the game.’ They all understand this is all for the team, but she’s done tremendously well. She was the super-sub tonight, wasn’t she? They all were, to be fair.”
Larkin also got an individual mention. “I like Larko and I tell her all the time that she doesn’t know how good she is. I tell them all that, to be fair.
“Abbie has an abundance of quality and pace but sometimes doesn’t give herself enough credit. I told her that when she came off because she was buzzing.”
Ireland upset the odds without suspended duo Denise O’Sullivan and Emily Murphy, with Ward explaining her pre-match plan that Ruesha Littlejohn and Jess Ziu – both operating off limited minutes – would play a half each in midfield.
“We knew we were going to change her then because she’s had limited minutes, but she did well, and Jess Ziu came on and did really well as well.
“They’re very different players, with slightly different ways of playing. So we knew that if we’re still in the game at half-time, then we’ve got a chance to be a little bit more aggressive in the second half, but play with the ball a little bit more.
“Look, the girls were fantastic tonight, every single one of them. And I think it’s a credit to them. Having Denise and Murph back for Tuesday will be absolutely huge.”
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