Birthday boost just the tonic for Ireland's Kyra Carusa

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