CANADA HEAD COACH Bev Priestman reckons their hard-fought 2-1 win over Ireland could prove to be the making of her side for the rest of the World Cup campaign.
Priestman admitted Canada were left ‘rocked’ by the manner of Ireland’s first-half performance and hailed the display of ‘world class’ Katie McCabe.
It was her early corner kick that gave Vera Pauw’s side the lead before an unfortunate Megan Connolly own goal right on the stroke of half time levelled matters.
A second goal from Adrian Leon inside the opening 10 minutes of the re-start handed the Olympic champions the initiative and Priestman insists the nature of the game sets her side up perfectly for the final group game against co-hosts Australia.
“Katie McCabe is a world class player and she showed that tonight. The early goal, and the nature in which it went it, it rocked us a bit. It was like playing an away game with all the Irish fans in the stadium,” she said
“I said it to them at the end it could be the making of us because I felt that we wobbled in the first half, our bravery wasn’t there. They played a little bit scared.
“I reminded them we’re Olympic champions at half-time and we’ve got to take a step forward and be brave and get after this, it’s not going to be easy,” Priestman added.
“These moments build character and experience that you can build upon now. It’s a great moment for us.
“I must say all credit to Ireland. They’ve got to hold their heads high. They took us right to the wire in that first half. They should be really proud of what they performed at.
“To be honest it was like playing an away game, it was full of Irish fans in that stadium. It’s basically a rehearsal for what we’re going to go into in the Australia game. That was a big occasion to play in. The atmosphere was electric for the Irish. It’s a great experience for us to move forward from.”
Priestman was full of praise for the way her players reacted to the half-time instructions when the scores were level, although the equaliser didn’t change what needed to be said.
“I was quite strong. I felt we’d got to take a step forward, we’d got to be braver and start playing to the level that we can.
“The team needed to hear, ‘we’re better than what we’re playing, let’s get after them, there’s three points, there’s no way Ireland are going to give them to us and we’ve got to go and get them’. I felt I needed to be strong and bold and push the team.”
