Vera Pauw: ‘We celebrate here (in Tallaght) but we don't party in the hotel’

Vera Pauw is all smiles at the final whistle in Tallaght

Vera Pauw is all smiles at the final whistle in Tallaght Credit: Peter Fitzpatrick (ETPhotos)

Macdara Ferris reports from Tallaght Stadium

There was a small audible cheer from Vera Pauw when she came in and sat down a little bit after the final whistle to talk about her team’s 1-0 win over Finland that secured a World Cup play-off spot.

She said with a smile “my mascara is all over the place” before the Dutchwoman took some time to reflect on the momentous achievement of the evening’s work in Tallaght.

Pauw said: “We have a play-off spot and still have a game to go. Who would have said that? We were dreaming about it. It's very special.

“Who would have thought this? We believed in it. We out-believed it," said Pauw using her sponsors hashtag.

The Girls in Green stepped up their game in the second half after a lacklustre first 45 minutes. Substitute Lily Agg scored the winner and then they shut out the Finns for the rest of the game. The record crowd for an Ireland game in Tallaght Stadium willed French referee Stephanie Frappart to blow the final whistle as did the Irish manager.

“I was watching the ref, going 'come on ref, come on ref'.. every minute went so slow. We were under pressure but they didn't create many chances btu every ball could fall because they were physically strong.”

When the game finally ended, there were joyous scenes on the pitch. Pauw noted that "we said to each other, we celebrate here but we don't party in the hotel” as their focus now will switch to the final group game away next Tuesday.

“We are going to Slovakia to win ... it will be really difficult to play the same kind of game but we are going to try it. That could maybe bring us closer (to getting a bye to the play-off phase 2). We will know tomorrow when all the results come in (what round of the play-offs we enter)."

 



 

 

The Ireland team were second best in the first half but got things sorted at half-time utilising video footage from the opening period to change things up. 

"Those clips come in and we spend a minute with the technical staff before we go into the dressing room. We then connect the computer to the screen to show it. 

“They were just talking to each other how to organise so we sat everybody down and we showed them. Then it was clear. That is why we have someboy above who is seeing it from the top and who can select those clips to show the players so they know what they are doing."



“They were pushing but I think after we could make a change and the players trusted the change, from that moment we could play an equal game. The clips at half-time made it clear that was the solution."

The Girls in Green grabbed what turned out to be the winning goal nine minutes into the second half through Lily Agg who replaced Ruesha Littlejohn who picked up a first half foot injury. “The way Lily came on was just unbelievable. The way she's grown, we don't know where she goes but she's absolutely super.

“The hard work gets rewarded for this special group. You can see it. Changes were just done by them at half-time. They gave us so much trust. We have them so much trust. In the second half they were freer to act. We're not there yet, we're growing and growing and growing.”

About Macdara Ferris

Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl … View Full Profile