IRELAND HEAD-COACH VERA PAUW believes that the Ireland women's team has made considerable progress ahead of their first World Cup this summer.
In Missouri, Ireland suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to the United States for the second time in four days, with Alana Cook scoring a long-range strike in the first half. Ireland goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan managed to get her fingertips to the ball but could not prevent it from crossing the line.
Despite their loss, Ireland showed determination but did not find an equalizer throughout the game.
Pauw admits that playing against the world champions has given her team invaluable experience before their debut tournament in July.
"I think in this camp we’ve made huge progress," she said.
"In the way we play, we’re more confident going forward. We’re pretty set defensively; I think we needed to work in the attack, but we can take positive from both games.
"I’m disappointed in the 1-0 loss, I think we had some good chances and didn’t allow them a lot."
"Every game, we bring our best game ever, and I'm so proud of that. We step up and step up, and we’ve made significant progress here," Pauw told RTE after the game.
ON HER 26TH BIRTHDAY ALANA COOK GETS HER FIRST INTERNATIONAL GOAL AND IT'S AN ABSOLUTE GOLAZO. 🤯
🎥: @TelemundoSports
pic.twitter.com/5jVsqUb3VZ— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) April 12, 2023
"I've said before the camp that we need this kind of resistance because without resistance, you cannot push yourself. If this is 100%, you cannot push yourself, and today it was 120% compared to last week.
"They are ranked number one, and it hurts so much to lose like this because how many chances did, they actually get? Maybe two dangerous situations, that was it in the whole game, against the number one team in the world.
"We have had many dangerous situations, and we're just not there yet, but that will come, the aggression in front of the goal will come. We've got the whole of June, and we will be ready for Australia."
Ireland has two more friendlies before leaving for the World Cup.
They will face France on June 6 and Zambia on June 22 at the Tallaght Stadium in Dublin.
Vera Pauw's side will then head to the World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand.
The Girls in Green will face co-hosts Australia, Nigeria, and Canada in their group.
