Pauw rejected big job offers to stay with Ireland

IRELAND manager Vera Pauw revealed yesterday that she has turned down lucrative offers from other teams to stay with Ireland and help them achieve their dream of qualifying for their first major finals. Ireland are well placed to finish second in their World Cup qualifying group and advance to the play-offs for next year’s finals in Australia and New Zealand. ‘To be honest, I have never said this yet, but there has been a few offers on my plate, with huge amounts of money. But I have committed myself to Ireland and this group of players, and I can’t let go without qualifying,’ said Pauw. With victory over Georgia — who Ireland beat 11-0 in Dublin last November — in Gori next month, Ireland would move into second place in the group. They then face a doubleheader in September, at home to Finland and away to Slovakia. The play-off process which follows is difficult, with possibly three rounds to negotiate. But Pauw is confident Ireland will advance to the finals. ‘If we qualify for the play-offs then we have a really good chance to go through, whichever team is there, even if it’s the toughest team, because this team is so determined,’ she told Sport for Business’s Women In Sport conference yesterday. ‘But making the play-offs, that is the key. There are three very difficult games to go. If we make the play-offs, we can go through then, to the World Cup.’