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RTÉ News
a day ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
McCabe: Only 'massive' improvement will suffice against Slovenia
Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe says only a "massive improvement" next Tuesday against Slovenia will offer the Girls in Green any chance of promotion to League A of the Nations League. Carla Ward's side fell behind four minutes after the interval at Esenler Stadium in Istanbul, but Turkey's hopes of upsetting a side 35 places above them in the world rankings were scuppered by an own goal and Emily Murphy's last-minute winner. It was yet again another below-par display overall by Ward's charges, but the result at least keeps promotion hopes alive. Just about. Ireland must beat Slovenia - a side they lost 4-0 to earlier in the campaign - 5-0 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Tuesday to win the group and gain promotion to League A. Failure to achieve that result and they'll head for a promotion/relegation play-off against one the League A third-placed teams in the autumn. Reflecting on the scrappy win, McCabe says while the result was key, only an upturn in general play will suffice on Leeside. "We got the result and that's what matters in the end but from a performance point of view we have to be miles better going into Tuesday," she told RTÉ Sport. 🇹🇷 1-2 🇮🇪 Ireland captain Katie McCabe: "We got the result and that's what matters in the end but from a performance point of view we have to be miles better going into Tuesday" #UWNL — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) May 30, 2025 "We didn't move the ball quick enough, we didn't move Turkey quick enough. We allowed them into the game with some sloppy mistakes. "It gave them that sniff to go forward. We need a massive improvement if we are going to beat Slovenia on Tuesday. "It's a tough ask. They have played brilliant for the whole Nations League campaign. I've got belief in us We can score goals from different phases of play. "We can't rush it. We have to be patient. We need to be at our absolute best." The skipper cited a change in tactics under Ward, as players get used to her style, as a possible explanation for Ireland's sluggish starts in games, but was particularly aggrieved by the manner in which they conceded the opening goal of the game, Kader Hancar finishing past Courtney Brosnan. "This is our fifth game under Carla, it's not going to be perfect," she said. "From a standards point of view, we have to implement that (gameplan) a little quicker and come out of the traps faster. "If we want to be pushing for (League) A in the Nations League, we can't be conceding goals like that, we gave them too much space. We need to take more care with the ball." After playing her part in Arsenal's Champions League-winning exploits against Barcelona last week, there were suspicions that Ward might start the Tallaght woman on the bench. McCabe however was included from the off, putting in a player of the match display and said she never had any fears that mental or physical exertions from the club celebrations would impact her international duties. "I feel really good," she said. "It was a massive result for the club last week and we were ecstatic with becoming champions. I enjoyed the full celebrations, but it was full focus on these two games. "I said to Carla when I came in I was ready to play and give it all for the team."
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
'That's an Irish mentality' - Carla Ward hails spirit in Turkey
Carla Ward believes "an Irish mentality" helped her side turn things around against Turkey and keep their Nations League promotion hopes alive. One down heading into the 80th minute, a Busem Seker OG and an excellent Emily Murphy volley got the Republic of Ireland out of Istanbul with a precious 2-1 victory. They finish their campaign with a clash against unbeaten Slovenia at Páirc Ui Chaoimh on Tuesday. The Girls in Green were hammered 4-0 in Koper, so they must beat the Slovenians by five goals or more to top the group and gain promotion to League A. If they don't, Ireland will head for the two-legged promotion/relegation play-offs in the autumn, when they'll be pitted against one of the third-placed League A sides. "That's character, that's character for you," Ward told RTÉ Sport when reflecting on Friday's win. "That's an Irish mentality... never rolling over. Even when we went 1-0 down - which we're disappointed with the goal - the reaction after that, the togetherness, the attitdue to go and win tackles, close gaps, making sure we were front footed is something we can walk away and be proud of. "I actually think winning it like that at the death puts us in a good position for Tuesday." Any late win is a sweet one, but overall this was not a strong Irish display. They looked short of ideas against well organised, physical opponents, delivering another under-par first-half showing - something that's become a bad habit over the last few matches. "It's something we've got to keep addressing," Ward said. "We've got to keep trying to work out why, and it's something we spoke about before the game, 'let's not wait till half-time to adjust and go after things, we have to start brighter'. "We can't wait for 45 minutes against Slovenia to be at them. There's going to be a lot of looking at that. We've got to dissect it, we've got to get into it, we'll go and have some honest conversations about how we start bright. "But listen this group's hungry. They don't want to roll over, they want to go. We've got a young and hungry squad that want to all play. "We saw that tonight with some changes. We need to be way better come Tuesday. There'll be a few things we need to tweak again, but the most important thing is we got the three points." Slovenia have won all five of their games so far and utterly dismantled Ireland back in February. Managed by Sasa Kolman, who counts Donegal boss Jim McGuinness as mentor, they are unquestionaly a coming team. To beat them by any scoreline will require a top performance . To beat them by five would be a minor miracle. But Ward insists her players will keep the faith and give everything to pull off what would be a remarkable result. "We've lost one game, which we know hurt us," she added. "We walked away with a win tonight, let's remember that. We've put ourselves in a position were we can go on Tuesday and try and finish top. If we don't, then we've put oursleves in a position now where we get a second bite of the cherry in (the play-offs in) October. "We have to win 5-0, which is not easy against any team now because women's football is improving in every country as you can see in all the Nations Leagues, A, B and C. So it's going to be tough. "One thing we will do is go out there with an attitude, a mindset and a belief that anything is possible. The Irish love that. I love that. It's why I took the job. We'll certainly give it absolutely everything. "I've heard an awful lot about Cork, I've heard about the noise down there. We're going to need everyone. We're going to need every single bit of Irish noise and blood because we're going to give everything, and we need the fans to back us, we need the fans to be there, loud.
The Star
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Star
Soccer-Beever-Jones scores hat-trick in England's 6-0 Nations League rout of Portugal
Soccer Football - Women's Nations League - League A - England v Portugal - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - May 30, 2025 England's Agnes Beever-Jones in action with Portugal's Carole Costa Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers LONDON (Reuters) -Aggie Beever-Jones scored a stunning first-half hat-trick as England were ruthless hosts in a 6-0 thrashing of Portugal on Friday at Wembley in their penultimate game of the Women's Nations League group stage. Lucy Bronze, Beth Mead and Chloe Kelly also scored to keep England second in Group 3 of League A with 10 points, behind World Cup winners Spain, who have 12 points after their 5-1 win over Belgium earlier on Friday. Sarina Wiegman's team shrugged off any lingering effects from a tumultuous week that saw goalkeeper Mary Earps' shock international retirement announcement, and were on the front foot from the opening whistle, scoring five goals before the game was 30 minutes old. The 21-year-old Beever-Jones struck her first in the third minute, slotting home from a sharp angle, and Bronze headed home less than 90 seconds later. Lauren Hemp beat a defender to put a cross into the box that led to Bronze heading in after Mead's shot was blocked. With the floodgates opened, England attacked in waves and Beever-Jones completed her hat-trick with goals in the 26th and 33rd minutes, while Mead scored in the 29th and Kelly got on the score sheet in the 62nd. England will be looking for a victory over Spain on Tuesday in Barcelona to secure a spot in the Nations League knockout finals. In other League A matches on Friday, Germany defeated the Netherlands 4-0, Denmark beat Wales 1-0, and Norway and Iceland drew 1-1. (Reporting by Lori EwingEditing by Toby Davis)
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Soccer-Beever-Jones scores hat-trick in England's 6-0 Nations League rout of Portugal
LONDON, - Aggie Beever-Jones scored a stunning first-half hat-trick as England were ruthless hosts in a 6-0 thrashing of Portugal on Friday at Wembley in their penultimate game of the Women's Nations League group stage. Lucy Bronze, Beth Mead and Chloe Kelly also scored to keep England second in Group 3 of League A with 10 points, behind World Cup winners Spain, who have 12 points after their 5-1 win over Belgium earlier on Friday. Sarina Wiegman's team shrugged off any lingering effects from a tumultuous week that saw goalkeeper Mary Earps' shock international retirement announcement, and were on the front foot from the opening whistle, scoring five goals before the game was 30 minutes old. The 21-year-old Beever-Jones struck her first in the third minute, slotting home from a sharp angle, and Bronze headed home less than 90 seconds later. Lauren Hemp beat a defender to put a cross into the box that led to Bronze heading in after Mead's shot was blocked. With the floodgates opened, England attacked in waves and Beever-Jones completed her hat-trick with goals in the 26th and 33rd minutes, while Mead scored in the 29th and Kelly got on the score sheet in the 62nd. England will be looking for a victory over Spain on Tuesday in Barcelona to secure a spot in the Nations League knockout finals. In other League A matches on Friday, Germany defeated the Netherlands 4-0, Denmark beat Wales 1-0, and Norway and Iceland drew 1-1.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Beever-Jones scores hat-trick in England's 6-0 Nations League rout of Portugal
Soccer Football - Women's Nations League - League A - England v Portugal - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - May 30, 2025 England's Agnes Beever-Jones in action with Portugal's Carolina Correia and Jessica Silva Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers REUTERS Soccer Football - Women's Nations League - League A - England v Portugal - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - May 30, 2025 England's Agnes Beever-Jones in action with Portugal's Dolores Silva Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers REUTERS Soccer Football - Women's Nations League - League A - England v Portugal - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - May 30, 2025 England's Agnes Beever-Jones in action with Portugal's Carole Costa Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers REUTERS LONDON - Aggie Beever-Jones scored a stunning first-half hat-trick as England were ruthless hosts in a 6-0 thrashing of Portugal on Friday at Wembley in their penultimate game of the Women's Nations League group stage. Lucy Bronze, Beth Mead and Chloe Kelly also scored to keep England second in Group 3 of League A with 10 points, behind World Cup winners Spain, who have 12 points after their 5-1 win over Belgium earlier on Friday. Sarina Wiegman's team shrugged off any lingering effects from a tumultuous week that saw goalkeeper Mary Earps' shock international retirement announcement, and were on the front foot from the opening whistle, scoring five goals before the game was 30 minutes old. The 21-year-old Beever-Jones struck her first in the third minute, slotting home from a sharp angle, and Bronze headed home less than 90 seconds later. Lauren Hemp beat a defender to put a cross into the box that led to Bronze heading in after Mead's shot was blocked. With the floodgates opened, England attacked in waves and Beever-Jones completed her hat-trick with goals in the 26th and 33rd minutes, while Mead scored in the 29th and Kelly got on the score sheet in the 62nd. England will be looking for a victory over Spain on Tuesday in Barcelona to secure a spot in the Nations League knockout finals. In other League A matches on Friday, Germany defeated the Netherlands 4-0, Denmark beat Wales 1-0, and Norway and Iceland drew 1-1. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
