Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson has pointed out Irish captain Katie McCabe as one to watch when the Women’s World Cup gets underway in Australia and New Zealand in eight weeks’ time, with the Swede saying the Dubliner is a world-class star that he and his players had to pay special attention to when the two sides met in qualifying.
Ireland were unlucky to lose 1-0 at Tallaght Stadium when Louise Quinn, who spent four seasons at Eskilstuna United in the Damallsvenskan, turned the ball into her own net, and the Swedes had to come from behind after McCabe opened the scoring to grab a 1-1 draw in Gothenburg that secured their qualification for the tournament.
That draw marked the first time in a long time that the Swedes dropped points in a competitive game at home, and it’s a mark of how far the Girls In Green have come that they have caught the eye of the coach of a traditional superpower in women’s football such as Gerhardsson.
Speaking to Irish In Sweden at the Swedish FA’s headquarters in Solna, Gerhardsson said that McCabe was the first name he looked for on the Irish team-sheet, such is her ability to dominate a game.
“I was in London a while ago, I visited Arsenal – Katie McCabe is one of my big favourites when it comes to players, attitude, all those things,” the 63-year-old revealed.
“When we looked at how we were going to play Ireland, (we said) how do we get rid of her? Combined, they have a lot of good players, but Katie is a big star, and big stars can do a lot with their team.”
Gerhardsson has seen a lot of development in nations like Ireland, who have qualified for the finals for the first time and will meet hosts Australia, Olympic champions Canada and Nigeria in the group stage, and he was impressed by how such nations have improved in recent years.
“I think that, tactically, they were extremely skilful against us in how they played. We had seen them before, they were tough – we got an own goal away, we had big problems with them,” Gerhardsson recalled, adding that McCabe was a major source of concern in both games.
“What do you do with this kind of world-class star? They can have a huge influence on things, both in matches as players, but also as people in this kind of team – they can lift a whole nation. It’s more evidence that they have made progress, and are now challenging everyone else (at the World Cup),” he added.
Gerhardsson has had plenty of experience of the fighting spirit of Irish football, taking on the likes of Drogheda United and Cork City when he coached men’s teams such as Helsingborgs IF and BK Häcken in European competition.
The Swede was also impressed by the Irish forward pairing of Heather Payne and Lucy Quinn, whose ability to run in behind stretched the Swedish defence.
“It’s something we try to do with Stina Blackstenius in our team, it’s a very important part of football to have a quick forward who can go deep. When you’re Ireland and you defend a little deeper, you need to counter-attack, and if you can counter quickly you can make it a tactical part of your game,” he explained.
For Ireland it will be their first time at a major tournament, but the Swedes, who lost the 2020 Olympic final to Canada on penalties, will go there with greater expectations, and Gerhardsson is looking forward to the challenge.
“The Olympics and the Euros are one thing, but the World Cup is something else, just because of the name – the whole world is there, competing. I enjoy it – I love every minute of the major tournaments,” he said.
Sweden will meet South Africa, Italy and Argentina at the group stage, and should they make it to the knockout stage they may well have to prepare to deal with Katie McCabe & company one more time – and this time, the stakes will be even higher.