VERA PAUW HAS offered an update on potential new Irish-eligible players who may be involved in the set-up ahead of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
The Ireland boss has also said there is “no hope” of a timely return for recent cruciate ligament knee injury victims Jess Ziu and Ellen Molloy, having already ruled the pair out of next summer’s tournament in recent weeks, and confirmed the prospect of a big home friendly next year.
After the Girls In Green secured qualification for a first-ever major finals in Australia and New Zealand 2023 last month, Pauw revealed: “We qualify and suddenly there is a lot of players with Irish backgrounds emailing you.”
The Dutch coach stressed the need for “a very tight connection with Ireland,” and was asked for an update on the situation following yesterday’s 4-0 friendly win over Morocco in Marbella.
Pauw — who has been successful in seeking out non-Irish born players through her tenure, with Lily Agg, Lucy Quinn and Kyra Carusa among the additions — explained that one newbie was close to joining the training camp in Spain, and may be involved in the next window in February.
“One already had done everything herself and was claiming her passport without involvement from us. She’s a player who really, really wants to play and her family are all here, all born here. But that passport didn’t come through, it was somewhere in the post so she couldn’t come.
“She could have come later but the jet lag obviously wouldn’t have helped. She might come in for our next camp. She needs to be better so we are assessing that constantly. Another player, we had some issues with eligibility, a player that is now injured and coming back.
“But what I said before, we only go for the players who have shown that they want to play for Ireland. They all have their passports or are doing that themselves. We have been in contact with a few players but this camp it was impossible to bring them in.
“We will only bring them in if we feel they are better than what we have. We have a core group and only if somebody is really adding something to the squad, and have done everything themselves for the passport, we can go for them.”
On Ziu and Molloy, Pauw added: “There’s no hope for them. Jess Ziu will be operated on next week and Ellen was a few weeks ago She’s doing well and Jess will be next week. It needs nine to 12 months.”
With international breaks pencilled in for February and April ahead of the World Cup which begins Down Under on 20 July, talk is heightening about a big home friendly for the Girls In Green.
A glamour send-off would be welcomed, as the Tallaght Stadium/Aviva debate rumbles on. Pauw wouldn’t be drawn on any specifics or potential opponents, but assured there will be something down the line.
“We are busy with the plans. As soon as the plans are out, we will notify. We will definitely have a moment that we can thank our fans in Ireland, and to celebrate our qualification. The issue is that countries are not so much coming to Ireland, they are not willing to travel to Ireland. Most of them want to play in Spain or in The Algarve. But we definitely are focusing on getting a very good game in Ireland.”
Yesterday’s friendly win over Morocco capped an unforgettable 2022 for the team — and a successful camp in Spain.
They played out a 2-2 draw against the same opposition behind closed doors on Friday, with opportunities given to fringe players, while they got the win in the main event, making it eight out of 10 in 2022.
Pauw was sick and removed from the group for a period, but reflects positively on the window.
“The week has been very good,” she concluded. “We needed a week to get [down] from the high, get into our plans from the World Cup and get also a low — and you have seen that in moments in the game — to be able to build up again. Otherwise, we would have had that in February.
“For me, personally, it was a difficult week because I was really, really ill. I couldn’t communicate with anyone. I’m happy that I’m up again and that I feel much better… I’m not there yet. But overall, if you look at the week for the players, I have a fantastic staff that could take over. I couldn’t even discuss anything but they took over everything.
“It’s been a very, very good week. It’s been good to be together. It’s been good to work on something else than our defensive team organisation with the counter; to work on how to keep the ball, that we have to improve our level when we are building up and we are creating chances. I’m happy with the few moments in the game that you could see that back — there have been a few very good moments.”
