Cavan’s shock Ulster success providing inspiration for Quinn
AS THE clock ticks down to D-Day for Ireland’s women’s team, Louise Quinn has revealed an outbreak of zen and calm has descended on the camp.
Vera Pauw’s ladies will have to replicate Shane Long’s golden moment of five years ago against Germany tomorrow night for a European Championship play-off to be salvaged.
By failing to collect a point in last month’s penultimate qualifier in Ukraine, Ireland need to topple the top-ranked team in Europe.
Preparing for a mission of such magnitude against a side which arrives in Tallaght with a peerless record of seven straight victories without conceding could be enough to rattle the Irish.
However, according to Fiorentina centre-back Quinn (right), perspective and philosophy dominate the prevailing mood around their base at the Castleknock Hotel. Perhaps it’s the consequences of lockdown, especially among the cohort based abroad like herself, that have the players in a good place for a game that will ultimately determine whether Pauw’s 14-month reign has been a success.
“People have taken to mindfulness and yoga,” she revealed. “It’s something that I’ve taken up. Mindfulness is about looking after your own head.
“I hear some of the girls here doing yoga in the morning, which we’d never had before. There’s definitely some positives from that lockdown. I think people all over the place were able to work on themselves and create new habits. You can kind of sense that good vibe around camp.”
On a personal level, 2020 has been especially challenging for Quinn. She ended last year as an English Super League winner with Arsenal, only to lose her place in the Gunners’ defence of their title. An offer from Fiorentina in July presented a welcome change of career, yet the country’s precarious Covid-19 landscape is an ongoing issue.
The 30-year-old came into the Ireland camp late last week following the completion of an isolation period for all the squad and staff amid a confirmed internal case.
“I’m starting to settle and really enjoy my football in Fiorentina,” she explains.
“We have the Portuguese captain Claudia Neto, Dutch international Tessel Middag and four players from the Italian national team in the side.
“The only strain is the Covid situation. I can’t get any of my family or friends over to experience the place culturally.”
That moment of reunification would be all the more special were Ireland to deliver the biggest result in their history. Recent shocks in the GAA All-Ireland championships have been noted.
“I figured out there were a lot of people I didn’t know were from Cavan until they popped up out of woodwork,” she said. “We’ve got to take inspiration from these moments in GAA, especially when they’re so close to home. It adds on that extra drive. Crazy things can happen in sport.”