Vera Pauw: How can you defend yourself against a lie?

With her time in charge of Houston Dash once again under the microscope, Republic of Ireland manager Vera Pauw robustly defended herself in a tense press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

The Girls in Green face world No 5-ranked France at Tallaght Stadium tomorrow night before flying to Australia for their first ever appearance at a World Cup.

However, Pauw currently finds herself in the eye of a fresh storm after an article published in The Athletic on Monday reopened a wound that's festered since the winter time.

Back in December the Dutch woman was named in a report which alleged that while manager of Houston Dash from November 2017 to September 2018 she shamed players for their weight and attempted to exert excessive control over their eating habits.

At the time Pauw said she denied every allegation made against her.

A month later she was among eight coaches sanctioned by National Women's Soccer League [NWSL] as part of their corrective action in response to the findings of the report. Her future employment in the NWSL is conditional on acknowledging misconduct, participating in training, and demonstrating a sincere commitment to correcting behaviour.

Pauw responded to those sanctions by saying she had been in contact with Iowa-based employment, discrimination, and civil rights lawyer Thomas Newkirk and vowed to fully clear her name.

On Monday, The Athletic published a lengthy piece chronicling Pauw's time at Houston Dash, with four ex-players and three former members of staff all interviewed under the cover of anonymity. One player described her methods as "abusive and inappropriate"; another said she "created a culture of fear".

Pauw, who was also interviewed for the piece, claims she recieved a death threat from a