Carla Ward has lauded ‘sensational’ Kyra Carusa after she confirmed the striker was fit and available for the match against Poland tomorrow.
Ward was speaking at the AVIVA Stadium ahead of the second part of Ireland’s crucial double header against Poland on Saturday.
Kyra Carusa is ‘sensational’ in an Ireland shirt lauds Carla Ward
Neither Kyra Carusa nor Ruesha Littlejohn were included in the squad to face Poland in Gdańsk on Tuesday but Ward was quick to clarify both were available again this weekend. When asked about what Carusa can add to Ireland, Ward was effusive in her praise,
“A huge amount” Ward sincerely asserted. “Kyra has been sensational when she puts on that Ireland shirt. Something a bit different. She has been ever present since I arrived.
“[She is] a really important player both on and off the pitch. It’s good to have her back in and around the group.”
As for Ruesha Littlejohn?
“I say it all the time she is a top pro” Ward said. “[She] trains really well, she was excellent yesterday. Ruesha is always ready when we need her. Full 24 fit and training, we’ll reduce that to 23 this evening.”
After a satisfying victory 3-2 victory over Poland there can be a temptation not to change anything, Ward was asked to elaborate on her thoughts ahead of selecting her side,
“Every game is different” Ward said. “This will be a completely different game. They will adapt. And we will have to adapt to what they might do. We will look at what we might face and pick a team that can go win the game.”
Carla Ward wary of Poland side with ‘a lot of quality’
Ward had said after the first match in Gdańsk that she had expected Poland to come flying out of the blocks against Ireland on Tuesday. That eventuality never materialised. However did Ward feel that could be the case tomorrow?
“Yeah, absolutely, we’re gonna expect a reaction, of course” Ward said. “We know Poland have got a lot of quality, we spoke about that before. They’ve shown that against really good sides, getting a point against the Netherlands.
“If anyone thinks it’s going to be a similar game, I think they’ll be mistaken. I think we have to treat this as a different type of game and we have to be prepared for that. We will be. This group, they’re hungry to be better all the time.
“The only things we properly discuss is how we improve and how we potentially tweak things. We’ll go into this game knowing how they might react, but also prepared that we’ve got enough quality, if we’re on it to go and take three points.”
Ward cautious of ‘chicken and egg’ situation with female coaches
Last week Carla Ward explained that she will be interviewing Marie-Louise Eta who was recently appointed interim head coach of Union Berlin’s men’s side.
The Halfway Line asked Ward about the recent FIFA directive around national teams and clubs having a female coach as either head coach or assistant coach. Did Ward think that directive would help women’s football and women’s coaching to develop? And did she think that it should also be implemented in the men’s game?
“Yeah, listen, I’m big on the best person for the job” Ward explained. “Is this a great move for the future of female coaching? Yes. But there is still a big but, we have got to make sure that these positions aren’t forced, because going back to that piece on the lack of females in the men’s game, what you don’t want to do is force something too quickly and that one or two early ones fails, because it’s a chicken and the egg, right?
“Because if the first one goes in and fails, people are going to be reluctant, whereas the right person goes in, they might not be reluctant. So it’s really important that you get the right person for the job in both the men’s and women’s.”
You can watch Ireland vs Poland on RTÉ 2 with kick off at 3pm tomorrow afternoon. Tickets are still available for purchase with a crowd of almost 20,000 currently expected.
