MUCH HAS BEEN made of the shift from underdogs to favourites ahead of Ireland’s 2027 World Cup play-off semi-final against Kazakhstan.
Since the lowest-ranked possible opponent came out of the pot in Nyon in June, Carla Ward and her players have been asked about the mindset change ahead of the upcoming double-header.
Having been the hunters against France and Netherlands in their League A group campaign, Ireland now become the hunted in Astana on Friday [KO 12pm Irish time, live on RTÉ 2] and Cork next Tuesday.
The Girls in Green are 77 places higher in the Fifa world rankings than their League C opponents, many of those part-time players.
Even without Katie McCabe, Marissa Sheva (both suspended) and Denise O’Sullivan for the first leg – and after lengthy travel and other challenges – Ireland are overwhelming favourites to progress to the final against Belgium or Poland.
“Ireland are normally known as the underdogs and obviously this time around we’re probably not,” says Jessie Stapleton.
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“But I think you can see from our past couple of games, we’ve sort of progressed so much in the last year or so where you get on the ball a lot more and I think we have all the players and the ability to do so. Going into the Kazakhstan games, I think we can just showcase how good we are on the ball and I fully believe that we have all the players in the squad to do so.”
And the mindset flip? “I don’t think it’s a big difference,” Stapleton, who recently “found a club that I could call home” in WSL 2 side Leicester City after a series of loan spells, tells The 42.
“Obviously, we go into games and it’s good being the underdog, and we have that fighting Irish spirit. But that doesn’t go away just because we’re not the underdogs anymore.
“We have so much respect for Kazakhstan. They’re not going to give us an easy game. We know what to expect. We know that it’s going to be tough. The weather’s going to make it difficult, but I don’t think we’re taking it lightly. So, even though we’re not the underdogs going into the game, we are still treating it like playing France, playing Netherlands, we are not taking it easy.
“Yes, we’ll probably have a lot more of the ball, but we have the players for that, and it’ll be brilliant to showcase other sort of abilities rather than just our defensive traits. But yeah, I think that we have everything in our team to get through to these two games.”
Jessie Stapleton (file photo). Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Ward has continually guarded against complacency, and stressed the importance of not underestimating Kazakhstan. She has likened it to their World Cup final, as they target the biggest result in their history. That messaging has been seeping into her players.
Chloe Mustaki spoke similarly to Stapleton on media duty this week. The underdogs to favourites mindset shift is “an interesting one,” she said, echoing her teammates sentiments.
“I think as a nation, we thrive off being underdogs. And I think that’s really helped us in League A to get the results that we have got. So, it could be, as Carla said again, a banana-skin for us. Coming into this game, people will just expect us to win pretty comfortably.
“It’ll be a tough game and it’ll require different things from what we’ve come up against before. But we’ll be well prepared and we have to be at it. Like, it’s a cup final and every team at this level will cause different problems. So we just need to be ready for that. It’ll be as big a game as any for us.”
Like Stapleton referenced, Ireland should have more of the ball. They have made huge strides in possession under Ward, and Mustaki is hopeful that this will be an opportunity to further showcase that.
“We are developing as a team more and more under Carla in possession. So, while the out of possession (play) has always been our strength over the past number of years, I think you can see over the past 12 months how in possession we’ve tried to develop that. Yes, against some of the bigger nations, sometimes you just do have to be more direct. And we’ve scored goals that way in League A over the past 12 months.
“But against the quote unquote lower opposition, we would hope to be able to develop more of a kind of like prettier football, maybe a style of play. But it’ll depend on the problems that we face against them. We’ll be ready to adapt no matter what.”
Chloe Mustaki with Katie McCabe. Tom Maher / INPHO
Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO
Of the pair of former clubmates at Nottingham Forest last season, Mustaki – who recently signed a new deal – is the most likely to feature prominently in this window.
The 31-year-old has established herself as a mainstay under Ward, nailing down the left centre-half back position while reinvigorating her international career. Equally comfortable out wide, she could find herself in a different role with McCabe suspended for the first leg.
With O’Sullivan also absent from the field of play, herein lies an opportunity for other leaders to step up, and Mustaki sees herself as one of those.
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“I hope so,” the Dubliner – back fit after a recent knee setback – says. “I think I’m a very vocal player on the pitch. And hopefully, by being loud, I can help dictate at the back along with Patsy (Anna Patten), Caitlin (Hayes), whoever that may be on the pitch at the time.
“I bring experience and hopefully with that, leadership experience as well. We have a lot of experience in the team. And even the youngsters, if you think about Jessie Stapleton, Jess Ziu, Abbie Larkin, these girls have been in and around the set-up for years. They may be young, but they have plenty of experience. So anyone called upon will be ready to lead.
“I think generally speaking, I would consider myself a leader in my own right. So hopefully I can help with that on the pitch over the next couple of games.”
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'That fighting Irish spirit doesn't go away just because we're not the underdogs'
MUCH HAS BEEN made of the shift from underdogs to favourites ahead of Ireland’s 2027 World Cup play-off semi-final against Kazakhstan.
Since the lowest-ranked possible opponent came out of the pot in Nyon in June, Carla Ward and her players have been asked about the mindset change ahead of the upcoming double-header.
Having been the hunters against France and Netherlands in their League A group campaign, Ireland now become the hunted in Astana on Friday [KO 12pm Irish time, live on RTÉ 2] and Cork next Tuesday.
The Girls in Green are 77 places higher in the Fifa world rankings than their League C opponents, many of those part-time players.
Even without Katie McCabe, Marissa Sheva (both suspended) and Denise O’Sullivan for the first leg – and after lengthy travel and other challenges – Ireland are overwhelming favourites to progress to the final against Belgium or Poland.
“Ireland are normally known as the underdogs and obviously this time around we’re probably not,” says Jessie Stapleton.
“But I think you can see from our past couple of games, we’ve sort of progressed so much in the last year or so where you get on the ball a lot more and I think we have all the players and the ability to do so. Going into the Kazakhstan games, I think we can just showcase how good we are on the ball and I fully believe that we have all the players in the squad to do so.”
And the mindset flip? “I don’t think it’s a big difference,” Stapleton, who recently “found a club that I could call home” in WSL 2 side Leicester City after a series of loan spells, tells The 42.
“We have so much respect for Kazakhstan. They’re not going to give us an easy game. We know what to expect. We know that it’s going to be tough. The weather’s going to make it difficult, but I don’t think we’re taking it lightly. So, even though we’re not the underdogs going into the game, we are still treating it like playing France, playing Netherlands, we are not taking it easy.
“Yes, we’ll probably have a lot more of the ball, but we have the players for that, and it’ll be brilliant to showcase other sort of abilities rather than just our defensive traits. But yeah, I think that we have everything in our team to get through to these two games.”
Ward has continually guarded against complacency, and stressed the importance of not underestimating Kazakhstan. She has likened it to their World Cup final, as they target the biggest result in their history. That messaging has been seeping into her players.
Chloe Mustaki spoke similarly to Stapleton on media duty this week. The underdogs to favourites mindset shift is “an interesting one,” she said, echoing her teammates sentiments.
“I think as a nation, we thrive off being underdogs. And I think that’s really helped us in League A to get the results that we have got. So, it could be, as Carla said again, a banana-skin for us. Coming into this game, people will just expect us to win pretty comfortably.
“It’ll be a tough game and it’ll require different things from what we’ve come up against before. But we’ll be well prepared and we have to be at it. Like, it’s a cup final and every team at this level will cause different problems. So we just need to be ready for that. It’ll be as big a game as any for us.”
Like Stapleton referenced, Ireland should have more of the ball. They have made huge strides in possession under Ward, and Mustaki is hopeful that this will be an opportunity to further showcase that.
“We are developing as a team more and more under Carla in possession. So, while the out of possession (play) has always been our strength over the past number of years, I think you can see over the past 12 months how in possession we’ve tried to develop that. Yes, against some of the bigger nations, sometimes you just do have to be more direct. And we’ve scored goals that way in League A over the past 12 months.
“But against the quote unquote lower opposition, we would hope to be able to develop more of a kind of like prettier football, maybe a style of play. But it’ll depend on the problems that we face against them. We’ll be ready to adapt no matter what.”
Of the pair of former clubmates at Nottingham Forest last season, Mustaki – who recently signed a new deal – is the most likely to feature prominently in this window.
The 31-year-old has established herself as a mainstay under Ward, nailing down the left centre-half back position while reinvigorating her international career. Equally comfortable out wide, she could find herself in a different role with McCabe suspended for the first leg.
With O’Sullivan also absent from the field of play, herein lies an opportunity for other leaders to step up, and Mustaki sees herself as one of those.
“I hope so,” the Dubliner – back fit after a recent knee setback – says. “I think I’m a very vocal player on the pitch. And hopefully, by being loud, I can help dictate at the back along with Patsy (Anna Patten), Caitlin (Hayes), whoever that may be on the pitch at the time.
“I bring experience and hopefully with that, leadership experience as well. We have a lot of experience in the team. And even the youngsters, if you think about Jessie Stapleton, Jess Ziu, Abbie Larkin, these girls have been in and around the set-up for years. They may be young, but they have plenty of experience. So anyone called upon will be ready to lead.
“I think generally speaking, I would consider myself a leader in my own right. So hopefully I can help with that on the pitch over the next couple of games.”
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