IRELAND FIRMLY BELIEVE they can advance from the group stages at their first-ever World Cup, says Louise Quinn.
Vera Pauw’s side opened their campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Australia on Thursday night. They frustrated the co-hosts and pushed them all the way, going close to scoring a late equaliser. But the Matildas held on, with Steph Catley’s 52nd-minute penalty decisive.
An hour after the final whistle, Quinn entered the mixed zone sporting an ice pack on her ankle after an awkward landing — with a “shiner” forming around her eye, capturing the central role she had played through a huge defensive effort in the Sydney sell-out.
The Irish centurion and Birmingham City captain explained that Ireland always felt they could upset the odds and progress at their first-ever major tournament. Just three debutants have ever advanced beyond the World Cup group stages at the first attempt, with none clearing that hurdle at the last tournament in France in 2019.
Ireland’s hopes have since been boosted by Canada and Nigeria’s 0-0 draw on Friday. The Olympic champions are the opposition in Perth on Wednesday.
“We are very realistic to the fact that it’s an incredibly hard job, but for us it’s been something there that’s always been possible,” Quinn told the Irish media. “Honestly, we totally believe in it.
“I’m not even trying to chat shite to youse here, we actually do believe we can get out of the group, but we’ve got to be putting in more performances like that, but up again, especially when we are getting into those attacking positions or on set-pieces.
“We’ve just shown that we can go toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the world. It has only just given us massive confidence.”
“Maybe it’s not the prettiest of football that people have seen, they might be chatting about that, but for me it was exciting, it was end-to-end, it was transitional,” she added.
“We know we have improvements to make once we get up the top of the pitch, because sometimes when it is so transitional, we are asking so much of wing-backs, of midfielders. But again we then did create those chances, so we know there is so much there, there is so much to give.”
Perhaps they can play with more freedom, in a sense, against Canada after finally getting off the mark on the world stage? Quinn wholeheartedly agrees.
“It’s hard to know how to deal with coming into a World Cup tournament, what it’s going to feel like, how it’s going to be, how things are run, the sound, the crowd, everything. Listen, it was really a proper learning curve but I just thought we handled it brilliantly. There is so much for us to take into Canada. They need to hopefully watch out for us.”
The 33-year-old Wicklow native also shared her thoughts on finally becoming a World Cup player.
“That’s everything. I’ve seen a few of my friends do it or I’ve been doing punditry, watching on and like, ‘I wonder how that feels’ or in every moment how do you prepare for it? How much time do you take for holidays, when do you need to start going again? When do you get your fitness?
“It was a real journey, but yeah, we are here and it feels great. And I think we lived up to the occasion.”
Ireland returned to their Brisbane base on Friday and underwent a recovery training session at Meakin Park. They travel to Perth on Sunday.