STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
Katie & Co take flight for Ukraine crunch
KILLING time online or scrolling through social media, Katie Mccabe has seen the occasional reminder of previous disappointments in green.
But the Ireland captain believes a collective change in mindset has t he Girl s i n Green well placed to break new ground.
Avoiding defeat i n Ukraine today will secure a Euro 2022 play- of f f or Vera Pauw’s charges who are injury - and Covid - free.
A win means that automatic qualification is still mathematically possible, but highly unlikely as Ireland still have to face leaders and powerhouses Germany next month.
Unlike the men’s team of l ate, goals have not been a problem for the women in this campaign with 10 scored in their six games.
But Germany have smashed an eye- watering 37 in the same number of games and have yet to concede. They won’t be stopped.
So nailing down a playoff would represent solid progress for a country that is still chasing a first senior appearance at a major finals.
Mccabe - top scorer in this campaign with three goals - has experienced highs and lows as she faces into her 23rd consecutive game as captain.
Take the last World Cup campaign. Ireland pulled off a famous scoreless draw away to European champions Holland.
But their qualification dream unravelled after home and away defeats to Norway in the space of four days in June 2018.
Mccabe said: “It was the Norway game at home that we thought we could take something from. And then the away game was the breaking point for us.
“That was it was over. You see pictures and stuff pop up of your immediate reaction when the whistle blew and it does hurt.
“We’ve a lot of players in the squad who’ll remember that pain, and with the new girls coming in they ’ ll understand where we’re coming from.
“But you learn from those experiences, like getting that big result against the Netherlands and doing well i n t he f ew games i n t hat campaign. It was mentally tough to not get through, but f or me it ’s always a learning curve.”
Pauw ( far right) is 13 m o n t h s i n t o h e r tenure as Ireland boss having succeeded Colin Bell who quit to become assistant of Premier League strugglers Huddersfield.
And Arsenal ace Mccabe doesn’t hesitate when asked what the hallmark of the Dutch woman’s reign has been.
“She has implemented a good sense of purpose and instilled a belief we’re good enough to compete,” said the skipper.
“She has us believing that we can challenge for qualif i cation t o major tournaments and go even further.
“There’s always been that element of ‘ we won’t qualify, we’ve never done it’, but she’s been part of teams at major tournaments. She has brought that into t h e g r o up a nd we’re learning every day, but instilling that belief in us is the main one.”
And Mccabe added: “Ukraine will make i t really difficult for us in Kiev, but we’ve worked on how t o e x pl oi t t h e i r weaknesses.”