‘We gave it everything... it just wasn’t there for us’
VERA PAUW has been around the block long enough to know what’s likely to unfold in the Group I endgame.
Ukraine will surely see off makeweights Greece and Montenegro, l eaving the Republic of Ireland needing to beat the might of Germany in Tallaght on December 1 to finish second.
Could the unthinkable happen? Possibly, but it’s not likely.
No wonder Pauw, a football pragmatist, hit the nail on the head after the cruel 1-0 loss to Ukraine.
‘We feel we’ve given it away here,’ she said.
And that’s exactly what happened. Ireland hit the crossbar twice, once from the penalty spot, had another strong penalty claim turned down, and also had a goal- bound effort hooked off the line.
To rub salt i nto their seeping wounds, they gift-wrapped an own goal to Ukraine.
Perhaps the bird that smashed into the window in Duisburg on Wednesday during Katie McCabe’s media i nterview was a portent of grim tidings after all.
Because it didn’t get much grimmer than this.
On another night, Ireland would have won 3-0 and wondered what all the fuss was.
On this night, when it really, really, mattered, they found a way to snatch a wretched defeat f rom the j aws of victory and blow their play- off prospects.
‘We’re absolutely gutted. We gave it everything. It j ust wasn’t there for us on the night,’ said McCabe, whose thumped penalty against the bar carried echoes of the shoot- out suffering for the senior men’s team in Slovakia a fortnight ago.
‘I should be finishing that for sure. It was difficult when I saw it didn’t go in. I was sure we’d score but it wasn’t to be on the night. Of course, they were difficult. They stopped us from playing but I thought we were resilient.’
McCabe dug deep to put on her best professional face.
‘We have to take the positives. We were r esil i ent r i ght up to t he 94th minute. It’s up to us to continue that i nto the Germany game in December.’
Pauw was clearly dismayed. ‘ You wouldn’t believe it if you wrote a book about it. At half time I said to the girls, “We have 45 minutes, do not rush, let’s keep our structure.”’
The Dutchwoman acknowledged the under-hand methods of Ukraine i n the second half broke up play and eroded Irish confidence that a goal would come — a draw was all that was needed to claim a play- off place.
‘They were very smart, provoking us. It gave us less footballing strength on the pitch. Time was ticking, there was hardly any football being played.
‘All the stops, all the breaks, all the shouting and screaming, it didn’t help but we needed to ignore that and keep our structure.
‘We ended up with too many high balls, it became frantic and you end up hoping that a ball breaks for you.’
On this wretched night, Ireland couldn’t buy a break.