Republic of Ireland boss Vera Pauw said her team's run of defeats against high-ranking opposition taught them the lessons required to pull off a huge World Cup qualifier win against Finland in Helsinki on Tuesday.
Since December 2020, the Girls in Green have played Germany, Denmark, Belgium, and Iceland [twice] – all countries ranked inside the world’s top 20.
They lost every one of those games, and were defeated 1-0 by No 2-ranked Sweden in their opening Group A match last Thursday night, but Pauw always remained adamant that playing the strongest sides would serve her players in the long run.
In Helsinki, the pieces fell into place. Megan Connolly and Denise O'Sullivan got the goals to settle an absorbing contest and earn the Irish a crucial three points.
"This was not the most beautiful game, but it was the most effective game," Pauw told RTÉ Sport afterwards.
"The way they have the discipline to play that style when we need it, that is amazing. You can only say that all those defeats we had against those high-ranked teams, without those defeats we would not have been able to do this.
"We said we needed to turn it around, the luck needs to come our away.
"It gives us such a boost that we can get out of this group. We have many difficult games to go. Slovakia is also a very difficult game, and Georgia. But it's a good boost."
Player of the match O'Sullivan was just happy to have garnered maximum points from the trip to the Finnish capital.
With home games to come in November against Georgia and Slovakia, there's now a real opportunity to build momentum.
"It wasn't a pretty performance but we got the three points and we'll go home happy," the Cork midfielder.
"We stay composed at times but we could have done better with the ball. We're going to have a few games like this if we want to get to the next level. We'll take the three points tonight."
