There was a bit of needle in the aftermath of the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup qualifier defeat to the Netherlands back in March.
Straight after winning 2-1 in Utrecht, the Dutch honoured 16 former internationals on the pitch. Ireland were irritated by that pre-planned decision, which could be interpreted as a belief that a home win was inevitable. There were also suggestions the hosts reneged on an agreement by both federations not to water the pitch, while Arjan Veurink did not shake his countrpart Carla Ward’s hand at the full-time whistle.
However nobody has any desire to add fuel to the fire ahead of tomorrow night’s rematch at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
All molehills, no mountains on Leeside.
“No, not at all,” Ward said when asked if there would be an edge to proceedings.
“I think that question was posed to me rather than me directly coming out with that, if you remember. But there were a few things that happened. It happens, club, country, that’s football.
“There’s always going to be little moments that you try and get the extra edge. I’ve done it plenty of times in my career. It’s another game of football. I admire the Netherlands a lot. I’ve got a good relationship with their manager and they’ve got an unbelievable squad.”
Lineth Beerensteyn bundled in the winner in Utrecht
Later in the day Veurink – who served as Sarina Wiegman’s England No 2 for four years and knows Ward years – was similarly reluctant to engage in fighting talk.
“(The player ceremony) was nothing against Ireland or that we thought we could win that game easily or something like that. And at the end, in the emotion of the game, in the emotion of that moment, I forgot to shake Carla’s hand.
“I have a lot of respect for the Irish team. I have a lot of respect for Carla as well. So nothing from my side.”
Veurink was open about one aspect of Ireland’s play that bugged him: the deployment of tactical timeouts.
Under new FIFA rules, players are no longer permitted to go to the technical area to talk to coaches when their goalkeepers are injured. The Netherlands were annoyed by Courtney Brosnan going to the ground in both halves in Utrecht only to swiftly recover once her teammates received a pep talk from Ward. That’s something that has frequently happened under Ward and her predecessor Eileen Gleeson.
“It’s about sportsmanship… not faking an injury or lying on the ground for a long time,” said Veurink. “That is the game. If you get stuck, you have to go out.”
A victory in Cork would mean the Girls in Green will face France on Tuesday knowing one more win would earn them automatic qualification for next year’s tournament in Brazil. The Dutch, top of the group by a point, come here hunting three points that would leave them within touching distance of the golden ticket.
Just as they did for the visit of France to Tallaght, Ireland have narrowed the Páirc Uí Chaoimh pitch to the FIFA minimum requirement of 64 metres. On Sunday, the same venue hosts the Munster hurling championship final between Cork and Limerick. It’s going to be wet and windy by the Lee, but Veurink is unperturbed.
“Yeah, apparently UEFA has minimum and maximum dimensions,” he added. “Now it’s all part of the game. I think the Irish team did the same against France, so we were prepared for that.
“I think it’s all about the quality on the pitch, let’s say, and the players. And we’ll see. It’s all right. I think the grass was good.”
Watch Republic of Ireland v Netherlands in FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying on Friday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on Inside Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 .