Pauw remains positive despite ‘very tough’ play-off draw

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Vera Pauw described the Republic of Ireland’s 2023 World Cup play-off draw as ‘very tough’.

The Republic of Ireland boss gave her reaction after her team were drawn away to play on October 11th the winner of the Scotland and Austria first round play-off tie from five days earlier.

Speaking an hour after the draw, the Dutchman was quick to highlight the strengths of the prospective opponents. Austria made the quarter-finals of the Euros before elimination by the eventual winners England. Scotland didn’t make the tournament but did qualify for the last World Cup.

“It's a very tough draw,” said Pauw. “Both Scotland and Austria are really good teams. Austria in the Euros impressed me hugely. I did one of their games for RTÉ. They are well organised, physically strong, They have a few extremely talented players, a strong striker and solid defence, if they get through it will be very, very difficult. Austria’s strength is their organisation. They’re very solid in their team set-up, both defending and in attack. There are not any weak points.

“We all know how much experience Scotland have. We have huge respect for them. They are more dynamic, faster in their play, with more variety in their play than Austria, but have extremely good players that can break down a defensive line. There are two different styles but equally good.”

Pauw confirmed that she will have two scouts in attendance in Scotland to watch the tie with Austria. Conor Woods and Danny O’Leary will travel over for the single legged first round play-off game. Both team are ranked higher than the Girls in Green. Ireland are 26th in the FIFA rankings with Scotland 23 and Austria 20.

“We will send two scouts, one will do Scotland, one will do Austria, and the one that goes through will deliver analysis in the hotel the next morning to us.”

To qualify automatically for the World Cup, Ireland need to win their play-off and hope that either Switzerland or Iceland – who are ranked higher than Ireland – slip up. Otherwise Ireland could be ranked third of the three UEFA play-off winners and will face a trip to the FIFA play-offs next February.

“Switzerland have the best draw with playing the winner of Bosnia/Wales as their opponent,” said Pauw. The Swiss are ranked 21 with both Wales (30) and Bosnia (63) are ranked lower.

“But it's good the other way around, Iceland have the toughest draw [away to winner of Portugal (27) v Belgium (19)].If they lose points and we are somehow able to win, its' straight through to the World Cup which would be fantastic.”



Check out the updated extratime.com explainer for the exact UEFA and FIFA play-off permutations:

If the any of the one-legged ties finish level after 90 minutes, there will be 30 minutes extra-time and then penalties if required. Pauw was keeping her cards close to her chest when asked about penalty kicks by extratime.com saying she would keep those things with her team.

“So we are absolutely sure that it is in our own hands to win that second round game, and that will be very tough. But what we have achieved with those (recent) two wins is that, at least, we have 90 minutes plus extra time to qualify, and whether it is through New Zealand or straight to the World Cup, we will see that after the game. But the key thing is that we have one game, a final, and it comes down to that.”

Many in the Irish squad came into the recent qualifiers with no competitive action with the WSL in England and football in continental Europe yet to start and so fitness levels will be sharper when the play-off comes around on October 11.

“Game rhythm is extremely important in playing games but that was the same for our opponents. The thing is when we have rhythm we have just a little bit more quality in our connection with each other - especially in the build up.Hopefully that will help and everyone is fit and the ones on the pitch will be fully fit so that would be a major advantage of course compared with these last two games (against Finland and Slovakia).”



Pauw confirmed that she hopes to have Liverpool skipper Niamh Fahey available for selection but that is was a “real blow” to have both Megan Connolly and Ruesha Littlejohn missing due to injuries picked up in the 1-0 home win over Finland. 

Ireland were undefeated on the road in the recent qualifying campaign, earning victories away to Finland, Slovakia and Georgia. They were also the only team to take points off Sweden in the group – earning a point from the 1-1 draw in Gothenburg. 

“Well we don’t fear away games. We will miss of course the drive of the crowd and everything they put in to help us over the difficult times. 

“The only thing is that if we play Scotland I just heard that we would play at Hampden Park and my office has been there for four years so that would be special,” said Pauw who previously was Scottish manager. 

As part of Pauw’s preparation her team will a game against an under-age Ireland boys team in the build up to the play-off.

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