'Nasty' & 'ugly' but elated Pauw can't hide her pride

It was "nasty", "ugly" and "very physical", but neither Vera Pauw or Katie McCabe cared.

The Republic of Ireland edged past Slovakia to book a pace in the second round of the World Cup play-offs in October.

"It's unbelievable how this team is growing because tonight it was not nice, with not good football, not our best game, but you can see that these tigers can fight for the win," Pauw told RTÉ Sport afterwards.

"Tonight it was nice, not our best game but you can see that these tigers will fight for a win" - Vera Pauw reflects on an "ugly game" but a hard-fought win