Kyra Carusa has reflected on putting a "mentally, physically and emotionally" difficult period behind her to bag a birthday goal with the Republic of Ireland and relaunch her World Cup mission.
The San Diego-born attacker's year was badly hampered by a stress fracture in her femur that saw her miss Ireland's crunch clashes with Georgia, Finland and Slovakia towards the tail end of the qualification campaign.
She was back in the fold for October's play-off win in Scotland, where she was an unused sub, and a header off the bench in the later stages of Monday's 4-0 friendly win over Morocco - on the day she turned 27 - was just the tonic Carusa needed after a tough 2022.
"It's devastating when you are not around, especially with injury," she said.
"It’s hard, it’s difficult mentally, physically and emotionally. And of course you see from the outside this… you know what it’s like to be in camp, you know the team that goes into camp, and you still feel like you are there, a part of it, just from the outside.
"But you are biting at the bit to be able to step in and take an opportunity to really solidify yourself in the group and get back and be healthy. For my birthday there is nothing more that I could ask for than, A: be healthy and buzzing and doing well; and B: putting the ball in the back of the net."
Carusa will now focus on trying to seal her ticket to Australia and New Zealand as part of Ireland's 23-player World Cup squad - not an easy feat given the intense competition within the panel.
Young players are knocking on the door, while Pauw has also hinted that other Irish-eligible candidates have thrown their hat into the ring for a call-up.
"What makes our team, specifically with Ireland, so special is that we have incredible talent that can be showcased in so many different ways," added Carusa, who plies her trade with HB Koge in Denmark
"We have individuals obviously who are special. But as a team our mentality and our work ethic together coming into camp is unmatched.
"I am so stoked that I can be part of that variety that we can bring and surprise teams and challenge teams to have to figure out what kind of Ireland they are going to have to play against that day. It's cool that we can be successful in so many different ways."
Birthday girl Kyra Carusa dives to glance a header to the net from an excellent Aine O'Gorman cross#rtesoccer
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) November 14, 2022
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After a stop-start few months Carusa is desperate to pick up momentum now and make it full steam ahead for the mission Down Under. The clash with Morocco was no classic, but every game now is a precious chance for players to stake their claim.
In that regard, Carusa did herself no harm at all on Monday.
"This was a game where we really wanted to see a different side of us as a team, and to see our limits and how we could build differently," she said.
"Beyond that, as a player, I could show a lot of different sides to our offence and it was successful, which I was excited about and happy to see that the team could really be so flexible and be diverse and mix up that kind of attack. So it’s cool to see that we are building up to the World Cup."
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