Ireland manager Carla Ward said she could not disguise her pride after a 1-0 defeat to France in Grenoble which condemned Ireland to a World Cup playoff in October.
Victory against the seventh-in-the-world French would have earned Ireland direct qualification for next year’s tournament in Brazil, but instead Ireland were left to rue a series of missed second-half chances as their opponents clung on in the wake of Thiniba Samnoura’s red card.
“I am incredibly proud of the group and so should everyone,” said Ward. “They have been sensational this campaign. They have come close again tonight against one of the best teams in the world, and my God, did France turn up tonight. They were brilliant.
“I credit my players, so proud of the performance. And look, if anyone had said we would be in this position, we would have snapped your hand off. We are disappointed to have lost the game and that tells you an awful lot about how far we have come.
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“I have nothing but love and pride for this group. They give everything for that badge and if I am a young girl looking at this group, then I am inspired.
“You can see from the celebrations at the end, that wasn’t easy tonight, we made it difficult for them. And the fact that the entire French crowd clapped our players off the pitch, it tells another story. So it’s just nothing but pride.”
The only goal of the game was Melvine Malard’s acrobatic overhead kick shortly before the end of a first half dominated by the French.
“We di d prepare for an onslaught,” admitted Ward. “And I think we managed that in the first 20 minutes, we really did, because we knew they would want to try and pull us out with all their rotations. We didn’t allow them to. It’s taken a moment of magic, hasn’t it? It’s taken an overhead kick from a wonderful individual.”
With France heading directly for the World Cup, Ireland will instead turn their attention to the playoff draw in Zurich on June 18th. They must win a pair of two-legged ties to qualify for the World Cup, but a third-place finish in qualifying means Ireland have earned the more favourable, seeded playoff path.
First they will play a League C minnow – one of Romania, Greece, Kosovo, Hungary, Croatia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, or Lithuania – and, should they progress, will play a two-legged final against a side that finished no higher than bottom of a League A group. Ireland are guaranteed to avoid heavy-hitters such as England and the Netherlands.
Captain Katie McCabe agreed with her manager’s assertion that Ireland would have taken this outcome at the start of the campaign.
“For sure, everyone counted us out and expected us to finish bottom. We have pushed some of the top nations, lots to improve and dissect, but we will be ready to go again in October.”
