Ireland captain Katie McCabe has paid tribute to those who have paved the way previously as their 1-0 win over Finland brought them a giant step closer to reaching a first-ever major tournament.
Even with a trip to Slovakia to come, Vera Pauw's side are assured of a World Cup play-off spot with the full-time whistle being greeted by manic celebrations at Tallaght Stadium.
In the midst of those joyous scenes, the Arsenal player stood in the middle of the circle of Irish players and coaching staff and her animated delivery suggested that she was telling them that their World Cup dream cannot die now.
It’s an envious position to be in, one no Irish women’s team has experienced previously, and McCabe was thankful to those who helped to lay the foundations.
"They’ve paved the way for us, Emma Byrne, Yvonne Tracy, Ciara Grant, everyone that’s paved the way for us to be in this position we are in now.
"To have Niamh Fahey, Louise Quinn, Aine O’Gorman, Steph Roche, honestly I could keep going, to be able to get a play-off for the World Cup for them. To inspire the next generation of young women footballers is an absolute dream."
Ireland captain Katie McCabe is left struggling for words after her side beat Finland 1-0 at Tallaght to secure their place in the World Cup play-offs. #RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/xACosDJKEp
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) September 1, 2022
Eventual group winners Sweden and Finland were the two top seeds heading into qualifying, but McCabe felt that Pauw’s decision to play high-ranked opposition in the lead up has paid off handsomely.
"Before the campaign we played a lot of higher-ranked opposition to try and prepare us for these kind of stress scenario game situations.
"I think we showed that, obviously. We’ve beaten Finland twice now and we got the draw away to Sweden. We want to compete with these big nations and make sure we’re at major tournaments going forward."
It was actually one of the side's poorer performances of the group stage, particularly in the first half, but it mattered little to McCabe.
"We didn’t play particularly well tonight but honestly, I couldn’t care less. We’ve got the three points and that’s the main thing. We’ve got a play-off to a World Cup."
'I dropped to my knees and had a few tears at the end' - @OSullivanDenise chats to @CorkTOD about what the result means #rtesoccer pic.twitter.com/wuhICM62WL
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) September 1, 2022
Although already assured of that play-off spot, the complicated system means that a win in Slovakia could ease their potential path to the tournament in Australia and New Zealand. McCabe said that they would be keeping the foot on the gas.
"We'll be heading to Slovakia looking to get the three points," she said.
"We want to compete, we were disappointed with our performance that time in Tallaght (1-1) when we did play at home.
"We’ll obviously enjoy tonight, recover tomorrow and then full preparation, full focus on Tuesday night and Slovakia."
