Pauw's tigers can't afford to get gridlocked in the squeeze of Sydney
Two titans of the world game held court at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium on the eve of a World Cup blockbuster but only one can emerge as the Wizard of Oz.
Up first was Katie McCabe, the Ireland skipper more upbeat than her last official engagement when her ire at the final friendly against France getting hijacked by controversy over manager Vera Pauw was apparent.
“Thanks for talking about the World Cup, Guys,” she sarcastically concluded with the killer precision of one of her renowned crunching tackles.
This return was all sweetness and light, not even punctured by a loaded question from a Colombian reporter about the physical encounter against her nation. That was the friendly match in name only, abandoned after 20 minutes.
Neither were the allegations surrounding Pauw from her coaching spell in America broached as the excitement got real 24 hours ahead of Ireland’s major tournament debut.
“We as a small nation carry that title, I guess,” McCabe said, embracing the traditional underdog tag. “We don’t want to just be here and be happy to be here. It’s about competing; giving Australia, Canada and Nigeria the hardest games possible.
“We know Australia has quality all over the park, while also being aware of what we can do on the pitch.
“Having played against Australia two years ago (a 3-2 friendly win), I’m sure they’ll have a very different team here. They’ve got some nice results along the way but so have we.”
Good times, good vibes, only momentarily threatened later when McCabe was left waiting at the training ground while the rest of the squad were delayed reaching the Leichhardt Oval by 40 minutes of rush-hour traffic. Even 10 months of planning leaves scope for hiccups.
Sam Kerr certainly wasn’t struggling for
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