It wasn’t the warm up preparation that had been anticipated with the week of build up dominated by Vera Pauw having to once again defend herself against anonymous accusations given fresh life but no additional context by a long form article in The Athletic on Monday.
It didn’t get any better with the fear of an injury materialising only ten minutes in to the game against France at tallaght Stadium last night with captain and team leader Katie McCabe rolling her ankle.
And it finished on a subdued note with France scoring three goals without reply in what was always going to be a tough test.
But there were positives to take from all of this as well.
The manager did not hide the impact that the resurfacing of allegations has had on her. She spoke though of switching from ‘I’ to ‘We’ and getting back in the zone by poring over video analysis after Wednesday’s fractious press conference and before going to bed that night.
The whole debate is a swirl of cultural, generational and gender issues and ones where we may never know the full truth if the players who were so upset by her at the time cannot see the importance of their coming forward.
Sport should never be seen as more important than the individuals involved but nothing in the many interactions I have had with Pauw over her time here has given any indication that she is anything but a professional coach, confounding the idea that elite coaching should be the preserve of men, and paying a price for challenging the way in which things were always done.
Her personal challenge to the Dutch FA over her own allegations of abuse while younger stirred up a hornets nest in 2022. Sometimes these challenges have a way of bouncing back against the person who raised them.
Sadly it is a story that will not go away, and we cannot know whether any real or imagined impact was felt by the players in her care at Houston because they themselves have remained behind a cloak of anonymity.
There will be a challenge for Pauw after the World Cup as to whether she wants to carry on, and for the FAI to be seen as having considered the allegations and stuck by their coach, but they will be for the weeks after the World Cup.
Focusing on the positives, Katie McCabe has shown herself physically strong at bouncing back from injury and first indications are that it was not as serious as might have been feared.
Secondly none of the more than 7,000 crowd in attendance will have passed any real notice on the challenges facing Pauw. They wanted photographs, they wanted to cheer, they wanted to be inspired and sometimes just being close to a hero is enough to spark the interest that can lead to a life long love of the sport.
Thirdly it was great to see the final stage of the Stadium development rising from the ground and being close to readiness.
Fourthly the LED signage boards looked great and will be there for Shamrock Rovers European adventures starting next week, more of which will be in Sport for Business next week.
Next up for the team is the long flight down to Brisbane and the 13 days between now and the game against the host nation.
Some players like Kyra Caruso and Denise O’Sullivan will have been pleased at how their performance last night, especially in the first half, gave a positive look to how this team can perform. Others may have some work to do to maintain their starting spot in a squad that is deeper in talent than has ever been the case.
Let’s keep the faith and get ready to roar on the 20th.
