The Republic of Ireland’s manager, Vera Pauw, admitted she had a disagreement on the touchline with her captain, Katie McCabe, during the goalless draw against Nigeria on Monday.
As Ireland battled hard for their first World Cup point, McCabe had called on her manager to bring on fresh legs around the 70th minute. Pauw ignored the request and did not make a change until the 82nd minute, despite her team being placed under pressure.
“If Kate McCabe says that she wants a change, that doesn’t mean she’s the coach,” Pauw said. “Everybody was doing so well. And I said: ‘What do you want, Katie? To take the best player off?’ No.
“A player’s allowed to be emotional and a player’s allowed to say that. That’s fine. But during the game, I step back and I analyse and we make changes the moment that it’s necessary … We brought on Abbie Larkin and Marissa Sheva. Sheva to have the power forward. We’re at the end of the game so we needed pace over there … And Larkin because there were more and more spaces in between those lines.”
Pushed on why she waited so long, Pauw said: “Because everybody was doing so well. Sinead Farrelly was arguably the best player on the pitch at that moment. I was not prepared to take the best player off.”
After the match, McCabe sent a tweet with the zip-faced emoji. The episode follows increased questions around Pauw’s position. Her contract ends in August after four years and negotiations have not progressed. She has expressed her desire to stay on multiple occasions and will attend the team’s homecoming event in Ireland.
“I don’t feel this is my last game because we’ve gone home from a World Cup,” she said. “Why would I not be at the homecoming? I go back with my team. Otherwise I would have stayed in Australia enjoying the tournament.”
