As the anguish of a cruel defeat subsided a little, Republic of Ireland boss Carla Ward could talk up the pride she felt in her side's impressive performance against France.
Ireland took the game to the world's No 7-ranked side at Tallaght Stadium in their opening World Cup qualifier. They took the lead too, Katie McCabe sliding home a terrific early opener.
But Melvine Malard's second-half brace, and an incredible Marie-Antoinette Katoto header off the line to deny Denise O'Sullivan right at the death, settled this absorbing clash.
Ward's side were always going to need a little slice of fortune to get a result here. It deserted them.
They now head to Utrecht to take on the Netherlands on Saturday night, beaten but unbowed.
"I'm not going to lie, I'm gutted," Ward said. "And if you're gutted coming on the back of a defeat against one of the best in the world, it probably tells you that I feel like we should have got more from it. So, yeah, disappointed, but a huge amount of pride for everybody out there.
"I'd like to know who were the last team to have 11 shots on target against France. I mean, (France boss Laurent Bonadei) said to me at the end, actually, 'best team we've played in a very long time'. He said, 'the fight, the way you controlled the game without the ball', which is funny because we spoke a lot about that over this last week. How do we control the game without the ball? I'm not sure many teams get that many opportunities against France."
The Dutch drew 2-2 with Poland earlier in the evening, which perhaps offers some hope that Ireland can travel with a bit of belief that they can pinch a goal. Ward admitted the dressing room was crestfallen afterwards as they now try to energise bodies and minds for another massive task.
Full-time: 🇮🇪 1-2 🇫🇷
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 3, 2026
Ireland are so unlucky to see a late Denise O'Sullivan effort cleared off the line
📺Watch live on @rte2 and @RTEplayer - https://t.co/nKLXOjzjmg
📱Match updates - https://t.co/KBQ9mqNHzJ
📻Commentary on @RTERadio1 pic.twitter.com/61ICJynxaK
"I feel like someone's stabbed me in the heart, but I've said to them at the end they've got to be so proud of each other. We can't feel disappointed. We've got to straight away look at the Netherlands, get on with it.
"We've shown we can compete. I would be taking a lot of heart from that. And actually, when they wake up in the morning, they'll realise that they've competed with one of the best teams in the world.
"Now we've got to go and do it again, which is tough, by the way, because mentally and physically that's tough, but they've showed they can do it. Now we've got to do it again."
Fingers and toes will be crossed that Ireland's two leaders will be okay for the weekend.
Denise O'Sullivan hurt her knee making a challenge midway through the first half, the Ireland bench getting Abbie Larkin stripped and ready to come on as the Cork midfielder received treatment. She soldiered on, but there are concerns.
"The honest answer is I don't know," admitted Ward when asked how the Liverpool star was. "Denise, of course, wants to stay on the pitch every minute of every day. That's just Denise. She's so important to us, but equally we don't want to risk her. So, there was a conversation with the medical team because she's got an ongoing niggle in her knee. She'll be assessed tonight."
McCabe (above) also suffered a bang, though Ward appeared less concerned about the captain, adding: "She got a slight niggle in that tackle, you know when she slipped over, she got booked... but she actually slipped over, there was no intent. As she slipped she's just caught herself slightly. That's why we swapped her and Chloe over, just to give her a bit of respite.
"She was struggling to accelerate after that, but you wouldn't have known because Katie's Katie and she does a terrific job."
Amid the post-mortem there was a moment of levity when one reporter's phone went off.
"Somebody's mum's calling, " Ward noted. "Very cute. I wish it was my mum. I should have picked that up. Whose mum is that? Your mum, is it? God bless you. You need to get yourself home."
After that, Ward sounded a rallying call. She watched an hour of Poland's game against the Dutch and wasn't surprised by either team. This is life at the top table, a challenge that should be embraced.
"Poland were excellent. Netherlands were exactly what we expected them to be," she assessed.
"They've played on a heavy pitch tonight. We've played on a heavy pitch tonight. I think it'll be interesting how both teams react. They'll be disappointed, I'm sure.
"We're disappointed, but there'll be an element of pride when they wake up tomorrow morning and they realise that actually there's a lot to be very proud of. Me being me, we've lost. I'm disappointed.
"If we can apply ourselves like that, we've showcased that we can compete with France and we have to take that in. I said to them at the end, don't be disappointed. That's going to hurt. It hurts. It stings. You can see it on everybody's face. Don't be disappointed. We've got three days. Let's get ready for Netherlands."
Watch Netherlands v Republic of Ireland in World Cup qualifying on Saturday from 7.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
