Prior to Wednesday, Sinclair had started all 22 of her previous World Cup appearances, logging 1,939 minutes with 10 goals to her credit. Then Schmidt unlocked the Irish defence with a pass to Adriana Leon for the game-winner in the 53rd minute. Sinclair set up Jordyn Huitema minutes into the half, with only a fine save by Irish 'keeper Courtney Brosnan saving the day. My explanation for the (squad) selection was exactly that - 'You can be the reason that we win."'Īnd so it was. "You know it was a big part of the game plan. "Listen Sophie Schmidt, Christine Sinclair, I thought their quality when we really needed it, they just allowed us to keep the ball and build," said Priestman. Stories in the sports world you should know about.Sinclair and Schmidt were introduced to kick-start the Olympic champions. Zadorsky was sent on to replacing an ailing Kadeisha Buchanan at centre back. The game was tied 1-1 at the half despite the fact the Irish had dominated the first 45 minutes. But she did make a difference.Ĭoach Bev Priestman unleashed the 40-year-old from Burnaby, B.C., at halftime at Perth Rectangular Stadium, along with fellow veterans Sophie Schmidt and Shelina Zadorsky. We will qualify more often for (major) finals because this team is too good to not qualify.Captain Christine Sinclair, the world's all-time leading scorer with 190 goals, did not make the starting lineup for Canada's game against Ireland at the FIFA Women's World Cup on Wednesday. “We feel that we have closed the gap, but now winning against those nations is the next step and that is the task that we have. She added: “During the game I said to (assistant coach) Tom (Elmes): ‘We are equal, if not better’ and that is just tremendous. Pauw, who has been in charge since September 2019, said McCabe “was by far the best player today” and that her team showed they are ready to compete at the highest level. “The way that we did it, with the freedom and variety that we tried to bring in, I’m so proud of the players for making that step.” She said: “For the majority of the first half (against Canada), if you can dominate, and the way that we played with the guts to conquer the first half of the opponent, who are Olympic champions. Head coach Pauw said she too was “so proud” of the way her players had performed in their first major tournament. “Against Nigeria we want to end this tournament on a high and give the fans something to cheer about, because they were absolutely immense all game.” We know now we’ve had tournament experience and we’re going to be hungry for more. “We’ve done so much to get here and now it’s about pushing on. The versatile Arsenal player said it was “an absolute honour and an absolute privilege” to captain the Ireland side, adding: “I’m just so proud of each and every single one of them, staff included. “Even then, we felt the second half we could push for another goal, and obviously they scored then.” It was unfortunate, it’s a sucker punch just before half-time, getting so close – it would have been nice to go in at 1-0. Regarding the equaliser, McCabe said: “I think we felt like we were in control. It’s just about capitalising on those moments then as well.” We wanted to start the game with a lot of energy, getting in Canada’s face as much as possible and putting them under a lot of pressure, and I felt we did that. “We know we have the quality and the pace as well, especially on the flanks. “I think we took a lot of positives from that second half against Australia, decided to be more confident and back ourselves a bit more going forward. I’m just heartbroken for the girls because I felt like we deserved so much more from the game. “Of course it’s nice to score and get us off to a good start, but it’s the results that matter in this game, at this level, in these type of tournaments. JOHNNY NIC: Love football but not watching the women’s World Cup? What’s wrong with you? With their efforts to respond against the Olympic champions falling short, Vera Pauw’s side, bottom of Group B, were left knowing they will be heading home after facing Nigeria in their final pool match in Brisbane next Monday.Īsked about scoring the first Irish goal at a Women’s World Cup, McCabe said on ITV1: “It’s bittersweet, isn’t it? Ireland, who had opened their debut campaign at a major tournament with last week’s 1-0 loss to co-hosts Australia, were on course for an historic victory after McCabe gave them an early lead, scoring direct from a corner in the fourth minute.īut Canada hit back as a Megan Connolly own goal restored parity in first-half stoppage time and Adriana Leon then netted the winner eight minutes into the second half. Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe has been left “heartbroken” after her side’s World Cup last-16 hopes were ended by a 2-1 loss to Canada in Perth in their second group game.
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