Katie McCabe pays tribute to those who paved the way
Ireland captain Katie McCabe has paid tribute to those who have paved the way previously as their 1-0 win over Finland brought them a giant step closer to reaching a first-ever major tournament.
Even with a trip to Slovakia to come, Vera Pauw's side are assured of a World Cup play-off spot with the full-time whistle being greeted by manic celebrations at Tallaght Stadium.
In the midst of those joyous scenes, the Arsenal player stood in the middle of the circle of Irish players and coaching staff and her animated delivery suggested that she was telling them that their World Cup dream cannot die now.
It’s an envious position to be in, one no Irish women’s team has experienced previously, and McCabe was thankful to those who helped to lay the foundations.
"They’ve paved the way for us, Emma Byrne, Yvonne Tracy, Ciara Grant, everyone that’s paved the way for us to be in this position we are in now.
"To have Niamh Fahey, Louise Quinn, Aine O’Gorman, Steph Roche, honestly I could keep going, to be able to get a play-off for the World Cup for them. To inspire the next generation of young women footballers is an absolute dream."
Ireland captain Katie McCabe is left struggling for words after her side beat Finland 1-0 at Tallaght to secure their place in the World Cup play-offs. #RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/xACosDJKEp
Eventual group winners Sweden and Finland were the two top seeds heading into qualifying, but McCabe felt that Pauw’s decision to play high-ranked opposition in the lead up has paid off handsomely.
"Before the campaign we played a lot of higher-ranked opposition to try and prepare us for these kind of stress scenario game situations.
"I think we showed that, obviously. We’ve beaten Finland twice now and we got the draw away to