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The Irish Sun

I played with Katie McCabe at Raheny United, it's no surprise to see her reach Champions League final with Arsenal

KATIE McCABE'S long road to Saturday's blockbuster Champions League final in Lisbon started at The Cuckoo's Nest. Outside that landmark pub was where she used to meet pal Rebecca Creagh, who would drive the pair from Kilnamanagh over to Raheny United for training and games. Advertisement 6 McCabe and Arsenal take on holders Barcelona in the Champions League final on Saturday Credit: Getty 6 In 2014 she was named the Women's National League Young Player of the Year during her time with Raheny United Credit: Sportsfile 6 Former teammate Rebecca Creagh recalls her being special from day one Credit: Sportsfile Creagh told SunSport: 'I'm Walkinstown and I was the nearest to her so I would have been her driver at the time. 'I used to pick her up at The Cuckoo's Nest on the Greenhills Road which was just outside her estate and bring her over to the northside. 'Then we'd stop off at John's Chipper on the Walkinstown Roundabout on the way home.' What was McCabe's chipper order? Advertisement Read More On Irish Football Creagh added: 'She loved a chip kebab, with kebab sauce and cheese. It's a bit of a speciality in John's. 'We had way too many of them when we were young. I don't think her diet includes them these days!' When Creagh could not give her a lift, McCabe would take two buses across Dublin and often look for the fare home from boss Casey McQuillan. McQuillan laughed: 'I say to people now that I used to loan Arsenal's Katie McCabe bus fare and they go, 'You wha?'' Advertisement Most read in Football Whether the money was actually for bus fare or John's Chipper is unknown but the devilment McCabe showcases on the world stage was always there. Creagh added: 'She wasn't shy. Early on she was a little timid in ways but more times than not, she was the Katie you'd see now. Man Utd and Tottenham fans blast football at each other as tempers flare ahead of Europa League final 'A little bit of a messer, a little bit cheeky, always up for a joke, that's just the loveable character, she's that loveable rogue.' McQuillan agreed. He said: 'Katie was everything she is now, she was cheeky, off the pitch she would be laughing and joking and you'd think she doesn't care. Advertisement 'But she does. She'd put everything in. If it's not going well, you'd see how much it means to her. The laughing and joking and big smile disappear.' And that competitive streak has taken McCabe all the way to the top as Ireland's captain prepares to line out for Arsenal against Barcelona this weekend for the right to claim Europe's top prize. 6 McCabe after winning the Women's National League with Raheny United in 2013 Credit: Sportsfile 6 Being lifted up by club captain and pal Rebecca Creagh after scoring a goal Credit: Sportsfile Advertisement 6 The Irish captain has scored 29 times in 96 senior international caps Creagh — a lifelong pal — was a serial winner herself and believed that McCabe, now 29, was always going all the way from the moment she joined the Women's National League in 2011 at 16. Ger McDermott was Raheny's manager for the first season and a half in the WNL and he had no doubts either. He already knew about her as she was training with the club but could not sign until she turned 16. It meant he saw that all the talent was there. Advertisement McDermott said: 'It was there for her if she wanted it. I don't think anyone would have said anything different when they saw her but you just don't know how things work out.' McQuillan, who came in in 2013 and then again permanently in 2014, saw the same. He added: 'You never want to say because there are players you know have the talent but it doesn't work out. "You could see she had something and hoped she could go all the way. Advertisement "But it is hard to get up in any sport so to get there she had to cross many obstacles, and she made it look easy. 'But she's worked hard at it. Don't let the smile off the pitch and Jack-the-lad attitude fool you. "She's a hard worker and she's always thinking of how to get on to the next level and bring herself another stage further.' TEENAGE KICK So what was McCabe like on the pitch as a teenager at Raheny? Advertisement Creagh said: 'She was well able to look after herself and get stuck into a tackle. And if there was any chats happening, she was in the thick of it, even at a young age. 'She was just that raw talent. She was really athletic, naturally gifted in that sense, she obviously built on that since going across to play professionally.' McDermott said: 'This probably sounds like a funny word to use but joyful. Just a kid who wanted to play football constantly, train . . . she had an edge about her, loads of personality. 'If you closed your eyes and listened to a training session, you'd hear Katie talking and demanding. And she understood the game.' Advertisement McQuillan also knew her football IQ was off the charts — which meant she did not always follow orders. He said: 'I find it hard to talk about Katie without talking about the rest of that team — Clare Shine, Rebecca Creagh, Noelle Murray and Siobhán Killeen. 'That front five were too good for Ireland at that time. We didn't so much coach them as facilitate them by giving them a structure. 'But Katie was a free soul. She'd be on the left and then she'd go to the right or up front. At half-time, you'd say, 'Katie, you're meant to be on the left', and she'd go, 'I scored, didn't I?' Advertisement 'How do you answer that? If it worked, it worked. 'And if it didn't, we'd have a chat and she'd still do it again next week! 'So we just rowed in with it and made it part of our game and Siobhán would move across if Katie went right — because it worked more than it didn't. 'She was cute enough, she'd spot weaknesses in players that she knew she could take for pace or catch on the turn. She was always looking to impose herself on a game.' Advertisement Creagh remembers moments similar to that. She said: 'There would be times when I'd be bawling at her to cross the ball and she'd beat another player and score herself. 'We played in the Champions League up in Crusaders in Belfast in 2013 and we played a Romanian team, and she took it down the left and she scored. 'She says it was a shot, but it was a shot-cum-cross to bring us back level in the game. 'At that young age, playing in Champions League . . . Advertisement 'I think the breakthrough moment that I can remember, the year we beat UCD in the FAI Cup final in the Aviva, she scored a 45-yard free-kick. 'That year was the year that set it off for her and I think the following year she went across to Arsenal.' McDERMOTT MEMORIES McDermott added: 'I wasn't manager then but I remember that. 'It was so far out and anyone watching is thinking she's going to drop it into the box. Advertisement 'But anyone who knew Katie is going, 'Katie is smacking this'. I remember times in training when she'd drop back 30 yards to demand the ball and you knew she was going to do something.' McDermott even felt like that watching He said: 'I was at a watch party in Swords Celtic. It's a nice story. Our television was 30 seconds ahead so I could look out the window to see the kids' reaction to the goal 'live'. 'But even before it, as Katie stood over that corner, she was thinking, 'I can score here'. That was how she played.' Advertisement McQuillan added: 'She had that confidence. I think playing with Noelle Murray and Rebecca Creagh helped as they also had it. And the same high standards. 'Katie wouldn't be slow about having an argument with you either if she didn't think things were right.' And as McCabe prepares to step on to the field in the biggest club game in the world, McQuillan remembers her winning mentality in one of her first Champions League games. He said: 'Katie played eight European games for Raheny. The first group, which was up in Belfast, we won one and lost two. Advertisement CLOBBERING CLUJ 'But the next year, we reached the last 32. Clare Shine scored two goals but it was Katie who did all the work. 'The first game was against Cluj, who were top seeds. 'We scored and they equalised and, to be honest, there was no way we were hanging on for 30 minutes. 'They peppered us but Katie got the ball, carried it up the field and pulled it back for Clare to score and we win 2-1. Advertisement 'I still remember, the pair of them must have been 50 yards ahead of our next player because everyone else was tired, or we were very defensive and taking a 1-1. 'But Katie wasn't having that. It wasn't the old Irish thing of hanging on, it was, 'Let's get at them'. 'And we took that into the next games and topped the group to make the last 32. 'Now to see her going out in a Champions League final . . . we were happy to be in Europe, to make the last 32! Advertisement 'But Katie always had it. When I see things she does now, I do go 'wow'. 'But not because I can't believe she did, it is because she is doing it at such a high level.'