Nigeria manager Randy Waldrum has spoken of his pride and admiration for Republic of Ireland midfielder Denise O'Sullivan ahead of the countries' World Cup clash on Monday.
Waldrum brought O'Sullivan to the USA back in 2016, signing her from Glasgow City when he was Houston Dash boss.
It was an incredibly difficult period for the Cork woman. Her father passed away just days before she signed, and it took time for her to find her feet in a new league.
But Waldrum instantly recognised the talent she possessed, taking the opportunity in Sunday's pre-match press conference to pay tribute to O'Sullivan's career and achievements.
"She is so clean with the ball," he said. "And in the first season or two, there was obviously an adjustment period as there is in any league. But she just got better and better.
"I'm so proud of her now because I’ve watched her play with [North Carolina] Courage and she has done so extremely well.
"I do know she went through a difficult time and we all handle those things in our own way. My experience with her was only a couple of seasons and she was the ultimate pro. And very driven. She wasn’t going to come in and be a short-term project. She was determined to have longevity in her professional career.
"Just watching her now, she’s even better than when I had her, you know? She kind of runs the show in a lot of ways with her ball movement and soccer IQ. She understands the game so well.
"I hope I get a chance to talk to her after the game, I haven’t done that in a while."
"I don't know what’s going on in Ireland, I just look at the team, and the team is doing well."
Waldrum also has a good relationship with Vera Pauw, who succceeded him as manager of the Dash in 2018. Her time there has been shrouded in controversy.
Last December the 60-year-old was named in a report which alleged that while manager of the Dash from November 2017 to September 2018 she shamed players for their weight and attempted to exert excessive control over their eating habits. Pauw has strenuously denied all allegations.
Waldrum was full of praise for her feats with Ireland, adding: "I've known Vera for a while. We’ve actually - I wouldn’t say are regularly in touch - but we’ve been in touch several times when she went down to Houston, we were in touch a few times because when I got to the Dash, it was starting a new franchise and trying to build and we’d all kinds of staffing issues and those kind of things we weren’t in a position to do back then.
"We talked a lot when she took the job, she was asking a lot of situations that I’d gone through and what it was like. She was telling me what she was dealing with and what she had. And so we kind of followed each other through social media and texts and that kind of thing, but I’m only from the outside looking in because for the last couple of years I’ve been so ingrained in trying to prepare this team.
"I don’t know what’s going on in Ireland, I just look at the team, and the team is doing well. My initial thought process was she’s done a really good job there.
"From my perspective I think she has done a really good job with the team, having them prepared to play here, because they are just a bounce away from two wins instead of two losses."
There's one more Irish connection in the Nigeria camp: Belfast-born fitness coach Kyle Quigley is part of Waldrum's backroom staff. He linked up with the Super Falcons just before the tournament and has been, says Waldrum, "a blessing" to the squad.
Their performances so far have defied a tumultuous build-up. In June Waldrum was strongly critical of the Nigerian football federation, claiming players had not been paid owed appearance fees and that training camps had been cut short without warning. There had even been reports the team might boycott their first game over a dispute about bonus money, but that didn't come to pass.
Instead, Nigeria produced a plucky performance to hold Canada to a goalless draw before blowing Group B wide open with a brilliant 3-2 win against Australia.
A draw against Ireland would be enough to send them to the last 16, but Waldrum is wary of the threat Pauw's charges will pose.
"In some ways, and some people may think me crazy for saying this, but this could be our hardest match," he said.
"It's going to be a very, very difficult game.
"We’re not expecting them to lay down because they’re going home already. I expect us to get the best from them. I’ve been very impressed with their team and the way they play, their organisation."
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Watch Republic of Ireland v Nigeria in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on Monday at 11am, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live commentary on 2fm
