“HONESTLY, I’ve no words here, I’m speechless.”
This one was hard to stomach for Katie McCabe.
The World Cup dream came to a gut-wrenching end on a miserable night in Perth, but the Ireland captain and her history-making side went down fighting to Canada.
“I’m absolutely gutted, heartbroken for the girls,” she told Irish reporters afterwards, clearly emotional. “I felt like we deserved something more from the game, we gave it absolutely everything and it just wasn’t meant to be.
“My message to the girls at the end was how proud I am of every single player. The journey we’ve been on to get here in the last few weeks, the highs and lows of players missing out through injury and disappointments. Trying to carry their dream with us.
“Having 16,000 fans, feeling like you’re in Tallaght Stadium but you’re on the other side of the world. You have a nation behind you as well. I’m just so proud of the girls for how they carried themselves tonight and they gave it absolutely everything. We can only learn from it.”
McCabe handed Ireland the dream start with a fourth-minute wonderstrike directly from a corner, etching her name into history as Ireland’s first-ever Women’s World Cup goalscorer.
But an unfortunate Megan Connolly own goal on the stroke of half time and another from Adriana Leon shortly after the restart ultimately eliminated the Girls In Green.
Frustration
Arsenal left-sided star McCabe produced another sensational individual performance, and went close to equalising in the 79th minute. Her effort, which was deflected out for a corner by Vanessa Gilles, played back on the screen behind her in the mixed zone.
“Fuck’s sake,” she reacts
“Ahhhhh… great block.”
On the subject of frustration, what about that yellow card at the end?
“I just told the ref that she had no control of the game and that Canada were taking the something out of her. We were getting ushered along in the first-half — Courtney, myself on the sidelines — and the referee did absolutely nothing about it in the second half. I would love to know how much time was wasted in the second half, but don’t want to say too much about it because I don’t want to sound too bitter or anything like that because, whatever, the result.
“I just felt that I had to say something to her. I didn’t say anything bad, I didn’t swear at her, I just told her I felt that she had no control.
“And sure, they brought a stretcher on for cramp, it was mad. But can’t say too much because I will get fined.”
Emotion
Moments later, McCabe sat beside manager Vera Pauw in the press conference. As she continued to digest the bitter pill, the Dubliner looked at the bigger picture.
Asked if there was one thing she could say to all the girls watching at home tonight, her emotions ran high.
“Do it for the love of it. For myself and each and every player in my team, the reason we started playing football was because of the love we have for the game and the smile it brings to our faces, the people you meet along the way, the teammates you have, and creating special moments like this.
“This is our first ever major tournament and I know for a fact, given those performances we put in, it won’t be our last. I want young girls and young boys in Ireland to dream and look up to us, because it could be them one day sitting here, playing and representing their country. I’m so proud and honoured to be able to lead the team to our first ever major tournament.
“For us yeah it was about creating history getting here but it’s also about leaving a legacy behind as well. We’ve given those girls and boys in Ireland the chance to dream and be like us one day. I hope we’ve done them proud, I hope we’ve done the nation proud.”
After the opening 1-0 defeat to Australia in Sydney, McCabe is now tasked with lifting her side for what is effectively a dead rubber against Nigeria in Brisbane on Monday. Signing off with points on the board is paramount.
“For every single one of those fans, we have to lift it for them and each other we have to get a win in this tournament,” she concluded.
“We deserve it and we will be bitterly disappointed if we go home with nothing on the board. And I do feel we are gaining momentum with each game and for our last game, we will give absolutely everything and give the nation something to be proud of against Nigeria.”