VERA PAUW HAS been appointed head coach of the United Arab Emirates women’s team.
The Dutch coach, who was appointed head coach of the Ireland WNT in September 2019, led the side to their first-ever major tournament.
Yet the FAI did not renew Pauw’s contract following the 2023 World Cup and this is the 62-year-old’s first coaching role since then.
Pauw — who previously managed Scotland, Russia and South Africa as well as her native Netherlands — succeeded Colin Bell as Ireland manager on an initial two-year term in late 2019.
فصل جديد يبدأ الآن 🔛
— UAE NT منتخب الإمارات (@UAEFNT) January 24, 2025
الهولندية فيرا باو تتولى تدريب منتخبنا للسيدات 🇦🇪⚽
A new chapter begins 📖
Dutch coach Vera Pauw takes charge of UAE Women's National Team 🇦🇪⚽#مرحبا_فيرا #WelcomeVera #WelkomVera pic.twitter.com/fgzV2udxTL
The UAE are ranked 116 in the world, with Pauw confident of improving the standing of the team.
“I was the first female professional player and also the first to hold the Pro Licence in my home country, the Netherlands,” Pauw said.
“I am proud of my journey that brought me from the European finals with the Netherlands, the Olympic Games with South Africa and the maiden appearance of the Republic of Ireland at a World Cup. Now I am on a day to write a new chapter in the history of the game with fantastic people around me in the UAE. I am ready.”
In September 2023, The FAI outlined the reasons for Pauw’s departure from the job following a World Cup review.
Jonathan Hill, then the FAI CEO, said many players and FAI Director of Football Marc Canham had a “different position” to Pauw on Ireland’s style and preparation for games, prompting the Association’s decision to ultimately part ways with the coach.
“It’s important to stress that we are not here to criticise the manager’s approach in any of these areas,” Hill said then.
“Vera was very clear, consistent and open in stating, not just to us, but also to her staff and players that she believed her approach to core areas such as these was absolutely the right one and indeed something she had adhered to across her entire career.
“We are not doubting that conviction, nor indeed her beliefs. But we do feel it is important to recognise that in professional football, as in wider sport, there are always disagreements and at times, subsequent tension behind style and preparation.
“The manager had her views and believed in her approach. A number of the players and indeed Marc, simply had a different position.
“What we’re saying in simple terms is that we genuinely believe in order to propel the next phase of growth with this team for women’s and girls’ football in Ireland more broadly, we feel we need a different and fresh approach.
“There were indeed differences of opinion, but these are part and parcel of the game. It was clear from conversations with Vera that she was not going to change her fundamental approach.”
Hill added that the FAI’s internal World Cup review flagged “recurring themes such as training methods, the style and nature of sessions, and approaches to conditioning”.
Best of luck Vera. Top manager.
Many said that her style of play was holding Ireland back, and results would improve after her, she took Ireland to 22 in the rankings, which hasnt even been equalled since. Think it proves that FAI were wrong to sack her.
@Kingshu: in the 2019 WC qualifiers, Colin Bells Ireland drew 0-0 away to Holland and lost 0-1 away to Norway. These teams were runners up and last 16 at that WC. In the following EC, Vera Pauws Ireland finished behind Ukraine, who got well beaten by Northern Ireland in the play offs. Ireland beat NI 4-0 and 0-2 in the 2019 qualifiers. Ireland regressed under Pauw and she gets too much praise for beating a poor Scotland side in a WC play off.
@John Buckley: regressed?and you give a few games to back that up, lets look at facts, Ireland when Pauw took over were 33rd in the world rankings, when she left they were 24th, being as record high of 22nd shortly before. They haven’t reached 22nd or matched that since. So they definitely didn’t regress, and havent even been as good since.
@John Buckley: B******t. In the 2019 World Cup qualifying campaign Ireland finished 6 points behind the Netherlands and were well off the runners up spot. In the 2023 World Cup qualifying campaign Ireland finished 7 points ahead of 3rd place Finland who have qualified for this year’s Euros. . Scotland were not a poor team.
@Richard Ford: Accidentally sent it in before I was finished. Scotland were favourites for that game and were playing at home. During our qualification group we drew 1-1 away with Sweden who finished third in the 2023 World Cup. We were the only team to take a point from Sweden in that campaign. Under Vera Pauw we reached an all time high in the world rankings, qualified for the finals of a major tournament for the only time in our history and competed very well in the finals against the hosts Australia who were a top ten team, reigning Olympic champions Canada who were also a top ten team and Nigeria who took eventual finalists England to penalties in the knockout stages of the tournament. Your comment doesn’t stand up to scrutiny and is nothing more than small minded begrudgery
Superb manager.
Ireland have gone backwards since Vera left.