The Republic of Ireland's aspirations of proving themselves to be an expansive, possession-based team received a serious reality check in Koper. This was as ugly as it was startling, an excellent Slovenia outfit exploiting several cracks in a flawed system to cruise to a 4-0 Nations League victory.
Carla Ward had urged her side not to slip into "chaos mode" in the wake of last Friday's 1-0 win against Turkey. However her decision to move Katie McCabe into an attacking midfield berth, leaving just Ruesha Littlejohn to protect a disjointed back four, massively backfired.
Ward was forced into a pre-kickoff reshuffle when the luckless Megan Campbell pulled out with a tight hamstring, but that alone couldn't excuse this Irish performance.
Lara Prasnikar (2) and Zara Kramzar had the hosts three goals to the good by the break. Nina Kajzba put the cherry on top with a fourth in the last ten minutes.
It was Ireland's heaviest defeat since October 2018 when they were beaten 4-0 by Poland, and one they'll have to stew on until the double-header against Greece in April.
Ireland actually started brightly, fizzing the ball around with precision and purpose.
Perhaps the Girls in Green were intoxicated by their early dominace, because they soon coughed up a startlingly cheap opener.
In the third minute, Anna Patten's attempted pass hit Megan Connolly, Campbell's replacement, and Maja Sternad exploited a high and flat defensive line to loft one over the top for Eintracht Frankfurt's Prasnikar to chase. She steadied herself before guiding an assured left-footed finish beyond Courtney Brosnan.
Dazed by that sucker-punch, the visitors tried to respond. O'Sullivan drew a superb stop from Zala Mersnik; then McCabe thumped in a shot that cannoned off a defender.
But Slovenia started to look like a team who sensed major vulnerabilities in the Irish setup. Their manager Sasa Kolman cites Jim McGuinness as one his coaching inspirations, the pair first crossing paths at Celtic. The Donegal boss would have approved of his protege's clinically efficient game plan here.
Sara Makovec and Kaja Korosec shadowed O'Sullivan and McCabe tirelessly, nullifying Ireland's two elite creative threats and asking the visitors, what else have you got? The answer was not very much.
In the 28th minute, things really started to unravel. Korosec bent in a corner from the right, and Prasnikar volleyed home her 44th international goal. Six minutes later, it was 3-0.
Slovenia, now smelling blood, poured through flimsy Irish resistance. Spela Kolbl knocked in a cross towards the far post where Maja Sternad was afforded aeons to slip a ball across goal for 19-year-old Kramzar to prod home.
🇸🇮 3-0 🇮🇪
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) February 25, 2025
Ireland all over the place and Sternad has time and space to pick her spot for Slovenia's third before half-time
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Shellshocked and disorientated, Ireland disintegrated. This was the first time since Germany in 2020 they had conceded three goals in a first half; no one knew how to react. Indeed it would have been four had Brosnan not denied Maja Sternad on the stroke of half-time after she'd raced through one on one.
Ward reverted to damage limitation mode at the break, replacing Ruesha Littlejohn and Heather Payne with Tyler Toland and Marissa Sheva. McCabe retreated to left-back.
Those tweaks at least made Ireland more balanced. Kyra Carusa almost gave them a lifeline on 50 minutes when she headed narrowly wide from a McCabe diagonal, before Anna Patten's piledriver was bravely charged down by skipper Dominika Conc.
O'Sullivan then spurned Ireland's best chance of the game when her scuffed effort from eight yards out lacked the power to beat Mersnik.
Ireland toiled in search of a consolation, but Slovenia were too cute, too organised to offer them even a sliver of hope. The rock-solid Mersnik repelled any openings Ireland did get, fisting away a fierce McCabe shot in the 72nd minute.
Nothing clicked for the Girls in Green. A free-kick on the edge of the box was fluffed when McCabe tried to play an intricate one-two with O'Sullivan before hitting it instead of just taking the opportunity on. The over-elaborate ploy simply gave Slovenia more time to throw bodies in front of the attempt.
Having soaked up a period of pressure, Slovenia eventually hammered the final nail in the coffin seven minutes from time. Kajzba capitalised on more lax Irish defending to cut inside and curl a good finish past Brosnan.
It summed up a truly miserable evening, and one that gives Ward a lot of food for thought.
Slovenia: Zala Mersnik; Izabela Krizaj, Lana Golob, Dominika Conc (Capt), Kaja Erzen; Lara Prasnikar (Mateja Zver 81), Sara Makovec, Kaja Korosec, Zara Kramzar (Nina Kajzba 62); Maja Sternad, Spela Kolbl
Republic of Ireland: Courtney Brosnan; Heather Payne (Tyler Toland HT), Megan Connolly, Anna Patten, Aoife Mannion; Ruesha Littlejohn (Marissa Sheva HT); Kyra Carusa, Denise O'Sullivan, Lucy Quinn, Katie McCabe (Capt); Amber Barrett (Abbie Larkin 67)
Referee: Michalina Diakow (Pol)
