IRELAND'S WOMEN'S football team suffered a narrow defeat to Belgium on Sunday night.
Ireland manager Vera Pauw has said that "the luck will come", after her side lost two friendly games 1-0 in the past few days.
However, the side put in two decent performances, first against Denmark and more recently against Belgium, but just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net.
So close to an Irish equaliser! Ruesha Littlejohn's free-kick is superbly saved by Belgium keeper Justien Odeurs #RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/tNy6TDzP4O
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 11, 2021
Belgium are a good side, and it was only the one early goal that separated the two teams, so it's easy to understand why Pauw is optimistic about the future.
She said: "I said to them, 'we're getting closer and closer and closer'.
"It's just a shame we're not getting rewarded because I think we played better than the last time.
"We started really well but then we gave it away and we were running after them, but then we picked it up again and in the second half we pressed even better than against Denmark. We should have scored three goals.
"We're ranked 32 and they're ranked 17 in the world. They won their Euro group, they are going to the Euros, so we're so close."
Pauw appears to be building a squad for the future, after making six changes to the game against Denmark. Teenagers Emily Whelan and Ellen Molloy also came off the bench and impressed.
See More: Football, Women's Football
