Carla Ward has said that ‘the World Cup is a far better place’ when Ireland qualify but knows ‘there is still work to do’ to make that happen in Brazil next summer.
Ward was speaking alongside captain Katie McCabe ahead of Ireland’s FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier against Poland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. The Halfway Line was present to hear from the Ireland head coach.
Katie McCabe ‘deserves to be at the World Cup’ lauds Carla Ward
It was a great relief for all Ireland fans when generational talents, Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan were able to help qualify Ireland for their first World Cup in 2023. However Ward was asked how important it is for players of that calibre to continue playing on that stage,
“Massive” Ward said. “You know what, I talk about, Katie, obviously I’ve spoken about her a lot, and she’s sat next to me now so” Ward smiled before McCabe replied “awkward” drawing a laugh from the room.
“World Cups need players like Katie and Denise there” Ward declared. “We’re talking, I said it last week: for me, Katie’s the best left back in the world, and deserves to be at the World Cup and the World Cup deserves having Katie there.
“So look, as a collective, I think the World Cup is a far better place with Ireland there, if I’m honest, and I think the world would be really delighted if Ireland make it. So that’s our goal, and that’s our focus.”
Ward cautions ‘you can’t underestimate the Polish’
Poland come to the Aviva with a point to prove after losing at home on Tuesday night to Ireland. Ward was asked if victory on Saturday would confirm Ireland’s place above Poland in her mind,
“I don’t think you could say that” Ward replied. “Poland are a good side, you know they’ve shown that against the Netherlands. You know, they narrowly missed out on three points and got a really good point. I don’t believe tomorrow would seal it.
“I think we’ve still got work to do, and you can’t underestimate the Polish. So there’s three big games to play and we want to take points of all three. We’ve said that, and that’s something that won’t change no matter what happens tomorrow.”
Carla Ward describes the importance of ‘layering up’
A phrase often repeated around the Irish camp is ‘layering up’. Carla Ward was asked if she could expand on the meaning behind it,
“Look, I think what we want to do you can’t always get in [or] what you definitely can’t get in [in] 10 days, [or] even 2, 3, 4, camps and it takes its time” Ward explained.
“We had that conversation last week around you have to keep layering up your processes and keep adding to everything we’re doing. So, you know, there’s a big focus out of possession in the last camp this camp, you want to add in a little bit more in terms of what we do with the ball.
“Next camp, we might want to layer up and add some other little bits and pieces. So you’re constantly trying to improve and add bits to our game. And I think you’ve seen over the last year, those layers, and I think that we have to keep improving, because we want consistency, that’s the biggest thing.
“I think we’re there with a consistent piece. But [it’s about] how do we now keep improving so when we do come up against these top teams, we’re ready.”
You can watch Ireland vs Poland on RTÉ 2 with kick off at 3pm this afternoon. Tickets are still available for purchase with a crowd of almost 20,000 currently expected.
