Vera Pauw hails Denise O’Sullivan’s high level after win over Wales

While Ireland was battered by Storm Eunice and Frankilin over the last week, the Republic of Ireland women’s team were battling with Poland, Russian and Wales on the pitch in the south of Spain in the Pinatar Cup.

The friendly tournament finished on Tuesday with Ireland’s 1-0 win over Wales giving the girls in green a third placed finish in the competition. 

The focus for Ireland at the event was on their three friendly matches as key preparation for April’s 2023 World Cup qualifier away to Spain. Pauw prioritised the games along with ensuring all her players in her squad got decent match time rather than doing too much training ground work.

Pauw was able to blood some of the younger players in her squad – particularly in the middle match against Russia – and handed debut starts to three players – goalkeeper Megan Walsh, 16-year-old Abbie Larkin and Chloe Musaki  - who spoke in detail about her journey to finally making her first senior Ireland appearance at 26 years of age:

Chloe Mustaki: ‘When the messages were coming through on my phone, I definitely had tears in my eyes’ https://t.co/haTaxRAYcUpic.twitter.com/w9JPJTCKbG

— Extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) February 20, 2022

“It was really the games that we were here for and the training sessions were to prepare and be fresh for the games,” said Pauw when she spoke with the media pitch side (via zoom) after Tuesday’s game.

“We haven't had a long time on the (training) pitch. We wanted to have games and we wanted to have that second string have the opportunity to play the full game (against Russia). The moments when we had the big squad on the pitch 11-a-side were very small.”

The Ireland boss stressed the importance of giving a decent run out to some of the younger players in here squad like Larkin and 17-year-old Ellen Molloy.

“You need those moments to make those steps in your career, in your playing level and your performance but also in knowing what it is like to play a full international game. It is another level from under-19 and they can only grow from that.”

Pauw picked her strongest team for the first match – the 2-1 win over Poland and picked “the strongest and the best balanced team” for the final game against Wales.

The Dutchwomen wasn’t able to select Grace Maloney due to a shoulder injury while Megan Connolly missed out due to COVID-19 (and is isolating until Wednesday).”

Denise O’Sullivan was the match winner against Wales with a well taken goal on 25 minutes after Pauw deployed her in a deeper role than she usually plays in for the girls-in-green.

“Denise is so versatile. When we need her to play deeper, she’s doing really, really well. When we need her to play behind the striker, she’s doing really, really well. I think today showed again that she is on a very high level.”

It is a tough task that Ireland face in Gothenburg in their next qualifier, taking on a Swedish side who won silver medals in last year’s Tokyo Olympics and who beat Portugal 4-0 in a friendly this week. Pauw wants to see a bit more risk in her team’s play.

“I think that we are capable to have more risk in our play.  We showed that in the first game (against Poland) and we showed that in spells in this game, but we need to learn to be consistent in that.

“We are growing every time and if you grow, you take more risks, you make more mistakes. 

"If you look how we can get out of close situations, we have more feeling for possessional play on the pitch at the moment and that means if we all on the same [hymn] sheet, then there’s less chance to lose the ball.”

Denise O’Sullivan proud of Ireland’s Pinatar Cup performance with win over Wales cementing third place https://t.co/4KHUF1Dw3apic.twitter.com/Z4U94n4oXr

— Extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) February 22, 2022