BEATEN BUT UNBOWED, Carla Ward was her typically positive self as she talked through Ireland’s automatic World Cup qualification near miss.
France celebrated direct progression to Brazil 2027 after a 1-0 win in Grenoble, and Ireland must settle for the play-offs despite their impressive return to League A.
“The World Cup needs this group, they are special,” Ward had just told her RTÉ TV interview.
“I’m incredibly proud of the group, I really am and so should everybody,” she then began her press conference. “They’ve been sensational in this campaign, they really have.
“Tonight we’ve come close again against one of the best teams in the world and my God did France turn up tonight, they were brilliant. They’re an outstanding team and the way they moved the ball, they’ve got world-class players everywhere.
“So I credit my players, I’m so proud of what we’re achieving, proud of the performance.
“Look, if anyone had said we’d be in this position I would have snapped your hand off, but we’re disappointed to have lost the game and that tells you an awful lot about how far we’ve come.
“I have just got nothing but love and pride for this group, they really are a special group that just give everything for that badge. And if I’m a young girl looking at this group, I’m inspired.”
Manchester United striker Melvine Malard broke Irish hearts once more, her 40th-minute wonder-goal ultimately settling matters at Stade des Alpes.
The visitors had their chances — “You have to take those against these sides,” as Ward said — but couldn’t capitalise on Thiniba Samoura’s 72nd-minute sending off for a second yellow card offense.
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France were frightening from the off, their carousel of attacking threat kicking into gear early on, but Ireland went down fighting after a much-improved second-half performance.
“It’s tough, isn’t it? Because we know how good they are when they find rhythm,” said Ward.
“We were hoping that they wouldn’t find rhythm, but we did prepare for an onslaught as it was. And I think we managed that in the first 20 minutes, we really did, because we knew they would want to try and pull us out with all their rotations. We didn’t allow them to.
“It’s taken a moment of magic, hasn’t it? It’s taken an over-head kick from a wonderful individual, a wonderful talent. And that’s won them in the game. They haven’t cut open our back line too often.
“So at half-time, we wanted to tweak and be a little bit more aggressive. So, when we were, I thought we were more comfortable.
“We’ve come up short against one of the best in the world. They put teams out of sight. You can see from the celebrations at the end, that wasn’t easy tonight, we made it difficult for them. And the fact that the entire French crowd clapped our players off the pitch, it tells another story.”
As France bodies dropped to the ground at the final whistle and danced in a haze of blue, white and red smoke, Ireland huddled and reflected positively. They’ll now regroup for the play-offs in October, learning their fate as a seeded nation in next Thursday’s draw.
“I just said to the players, this isn’t the start, it’s not the end. It’s very much a journey, no matter if we had won the game tonight, whether we drew or like it has happened, we’ve been beaten.
“I said to them this morning, ‘Everybody questioned can you compete in League A?’ And now they’re saying, ‘Wow, you can really compete against everybody.’ And I just said to them at the end, to be disappointed to get beat in this position shows a hell of a lot of how far we’ve come. But I always say we’ve got work to do.
“Katie (McCabe) said a similar thing after and I think we’ll continue to work hard and continue to improve. That’s really important. We’ve got a World Cup that we want to get to.
“So we’ve got to keep working. And if we put in performances like we have in this campaign, we’re absolutely fine.”
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'To be disappointed to get beat in this position shows a hell of a lot of how far we've come'
BEATEN BUT UNBOWED, Carla Ward was her typically positive self as she talked through Ireland’s automatic World Cup qualification near miss.
France celebrated direct progression to Brazil 2027 after a 1-0 win in Grenoble, and Ireland must settle for the play-offs despite their impressive return to League A.
“The World Cup needs this group, they are special,” Ward had just told her RTÉ TV interview.
“I’m incredibly proud of the group, I really am and so should everybody,” she then began her press conference. “They’ve been sensational in this campaign, they really have.
“Tonight we’ve come close again against one of the best teams in the world and my God did France turn up tonight, they were brilliant. They’re an outstanding team and the way they moved the ball, they’ve got world-class players everywhere.
“So I credit my players, I’m so proud of what we’re achieving, proud of the performance.
“Look, if anyone had said we’d be in this position I would have snapped your hand off, but we’re disappointed to have lost the game and that tells you an awful lot about how far we’ve come.
Manchester United striker Melvine Malard broke Irish hearts once more, her 40th-minute wonder-goal ultimately settling matters at Stade des Alpes.
The visitors had their chances — “You have to take those against these sides,” as Ward said — but couldn’t capitalise on Thiniba Samoura’s 72nd-minute sending off for a second yellow card offense.
France were frightening from the off, their carousel of attacking threat kicking into gear early on, but Ireland went down fighting after a much-improved second-half performance.
“It’s tough, isn’t it? Because we know how good they are when they find rhythm,” said Ward.
“We were hoping that they wouldn’t find rhythm, but we did prepare for an onslaught as it was. And I think we managed that in the first 20 minutes, we really did, because we knew they would want to try and pull us out with all their rotations. We didn’t allow them to.
“So at half-time, we wanted to tweak and be a little bit more aggressive. So, when we were, I thought we were more comfortable.
“We’ve come up short against one of the best in the world. They put teams out of sight. You can see from the celebrations at the end, that wasn’t easy tonight, we made it difficult for them. And the fact that the entire French crowd clapped our players off the pitch, it tells another story.”
As France bodies dropped to the ground at the final whistle and danced in a haze of blue, white and red smoke, Ireland huddled and reflected positively. They’ll now regroup for the play-offs in October, learning their fate as a seeded nation in next Thursday’s draw.
“I just said to the players, this isn’t the start, it’s not the end. It’s very much a journey, no matter if we had won the game tonight, whether we drew or like it has happened, we’ve been beaten.
“I said to them this morning, ‘Everybody questioned can you compete in League A?’ And now they’re saying, ‘Wow, you can really compete against everybody.’ And I just said to them at the end, to be disappointed to get beat in this position shows a hell of a lot of how far we’ve come. But I always say we’ve got work to do.
“Katie (McCabe) said a similar thing after and I think we’ll continue to work hard and continue to improve. That’s really important. We’ve got a World Cup that we want to get to.
“So we’ve got to keep working. And if we put in performances like we have in this campaign, we’re absolutely fine.”
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