AND SO IT begins. Your bleary-eyed reporter has landed in Brisbane.
Two long flights, an engine issue, and a couple hours’ delay later, The 42 has reached the Land Down Under.
A giant OUTBELIEVE billboard, featuring Katie McCabe, Denise O’Sullivan and Amber Barrett, lit up departures and there were other glimpses of World Cup excitement along the way.
Let’s go 🇦🇺✈️🦘 pic.twitter.com/vlAeJiy4gz
— Emma Duffy (@emmaduffy_) July 10, 2023
Four thousand Irish fans are expected to travel to Australia in the coming days, with an ‘OZ 2023’ jersey among those on our flight. There were a few World Cup films available to watch en route: Heroes, The Story of the Fifa Women’s World Cup, which charted the rise from the first edition in 1991, was a personal favourite. Four Four Two magazine hung up inside the airplane too, with England’s Lionesses — the 2022 European Champions — the cover stars.
Upon arrival in Brisbane, it was straight to work. Ireland held an open training session at Meakin Park, with Vera Pauw and several players fulfilling media duties.
Approximately 100 fans — mainly Irish ex-pats now living in Brisbane, along with Football Queensland club members — watched on as captain McCabe and co. trained fully and sharpened up with an 11-v-11 game, in which the first-choice XI was the same as in last week’s defeat to France.
As day turned to night, and after a rigorous warm-up and rondos, McCabe, Marissa Sheva, Heather Payne and Megan Connolly gave the fans something to cheer about, with all four players on target.
A drone flew overhead recording the session and animals roamed about nearby — “friendly” ones, Pauw assured.
Some fun and games followed thereafter, along with a five-a-side match.
The squad is well settled by now, having departed the Emerald Isle in two separate groups across Friday and Saturday. Jet lag has slowly but surely been beaten, as they move through the gears on the grass and enjoy their beautiful surroundings off it.
“This is why we are here, the jet lag is part of it,” Pauw said before today’s session. “You don’t have to be. You can be sitting at home with the feet on the couch watching a movie. Playing elite sport is a choice and that is comfortable at times and uncomfortable at times. We just need to get over it.
“We have a jet lag protocol in training. We started at 11, then 12, then 2, now at 4 and then tomorrow at 6. And that is to be active at the moment your body actually wants to sleep. So that you stay awake the moment that your body is in day time.”
England’s Lionesses are one team who have opted to wear specially-designed ‘light glasses’ in a bid to beat the jet lag, but Pauw and Ireland have decided to go without.
“The doctor showed there is no evidence and we want to just keep things simple,” Pauw explained.
“We use the daylight as our guide, we go out of the hotel a lot, we have a lot of free time to be out and with our families and friends to get the sunshine in their eyes.”
The squad are staying at the Emporium Hotel in Brisbane’s South Bank area, and many a Walk And A Coffee have been taken by the players and staff in recent days.
Pauw’s husband, Bert van Lingen, has travelled along with a good friend. “He’s my rock,” the Dutch coach beamed after they embraced at today’s session.
The mood in camp appears relaxed, the fact that a Brisbane winter is much like an Irish summer likely helping. Today was quite overcast, but temperatures have reached low 20°Cs through their stay thus far.
While there are various different pieces of branding around the city, World Cup fever hasn’t exactly kicked in on a wider level. (Much more exploring to be done tomorrow.)
But not for Ireland. After a colourful welcoming ceremony on Monday, the adventure is well and truly underway, with the work being put in on the pitch.
In a little over a weeks’ time, they make their major tournament debut against co-hosts Australia in front of over 80,000 fans in Sydney.
But first, on Friday, they finish fine-tuning in an uncapped, behind-closed-doors game against Colombia.
Then, a date that has been bandied about for so long — 20 July — becomes real.
“I hope that we can make Ireland proud,” Pauw declared. “I’ve said that so many times.
“We will give our all, we will not be afraid, we will not hide because of a fear of failure — because we don’t have that.”
Eight days to go.