CLAIRE O’RIORDAN IS sitting in a wheelchair with the faintest of smiles and a white bandage from her right knee down to her foot.
A splint is under it for additional support.
The first line of the post on her Instagram page from 29 September 2021 is ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’, with the following message: “Operation went well, and the recovery is going even better, I’ll be back kicking ball in a few weeks.
“Thank you to everyone for checking in on me, friends and family, and to my amazing MSV Duisburg staff and team mates for taking the best of care of me xo.”
Less than a year later and her commitment to the recovery process from that ankle surgery continues to pay dividends.
The 27-year-old defender was recalled by Vera Pauw for the 1-1 draw with Sweden in World Cup qualifying in April and maintained her form in Germany to earn another chance to add to her 17 caps.
“The injury itself was very difficult and how it went, but it was a massive learning curve for me as a player and as a person,” she begins. “I think I learnt an awful lot just from watching.
“As a person, when we’re faced with a challenge, it all depends on how you take it, if you take it personally or use it in a positive light. And I think I used it in a positive light.
My knowledge, some people feel, is enhanced. If that is the case, so be it. Coming back into the squad was a big one, and it being against Sweden, a big team to come back against.
“But just being back in with the team, getting my rhythm and confidence was the important thing and I feel from the start to the end of the camp was like night and day.
“I’m just looking to build on that coming into this camp. We’ve two fixtures ahead of us, I’m just looking to build on it, and seeing how far I could progress in this camp.”
Injury has brought a greater sense of perspective and, clutching a Holy Cross necklace, she explains how delving deeper into her faith has helped.
“It is something that I have grown my knowledge, probably since I’ve been injured to be quite honest with you. This season a lot of Americans have joined my team, even outside of football, I know some Christians, so I didn’t take it as a just a passing by, I felt it was something there for me because I was surrounded by more people who were more in touch with their faith.
“I’m still on the journey of reading more and watching some very informational movies about it. But yeah, I’ve enjoyed it so far and it’s something that I’ve had all my life but it’s something I wasn’t as in touch with it I suppose in the last eight to 10 months give or take.”
It’s all been part of the journey that has brought her, and Ireland, to this point.
A training camp in Turkey, followed by a friendly with the Philippines should have the Pauw’s players primed for Georgia, a side they secured a record 11-0 win over earlier in the group at Tallaght Stadium.
“Everyone is level headed and we have our feet on the ground. We know the task at hand, we know what happened the last day and how successful the team were at scoring goals,” O’Riordan insists.
“But you know we’re away from home in this camp, we need to take that into consideration and just focus on ourselves and do the best that we can.”
Captain Katie McCabe has continually spoken about her attempts to demand more from teammates on this stage, and it’s a message her teammate from Limerick reckons has seeped into the players’ consciousness.
“I think so, I think everyone is stepping up to the plate, I think everyone is stepping up with their demands when asked of them, you can see that in Chloe Mustaki in the last camp, and the role she played and she did it marvellously.
And that’s all about individually as players, looking to better ourselves every day in training. I think it’s how we go into those challenges and take them in a positive light.
“That’s the game ahead of us, it’s all about improving, individually and collectively together, we can be united and successful in the goal ahead of us.”
O’Riordan will hope the wheels are in motion to achieve that aim of World Cup qualifiction.