Amber Barrett praised the Republic of Ireland’s resilience as her winner against the Netherlands ensured that the Girls in Green go to Grenoble next Tuesday with dreams of automatic World Cup qualification still in their hands.
Barrett’s late goal at Páirc Uí Chaoimh was the clincher in a game which saw Kyra Carusa and Abbie Larkin twice put Carla Ward’s side ahead, only for the Dutch to draw level each time.
The 3-2 win puts Ireland up to second in the qualifying group, just behind France who will host them in a winner-takes-all clash on Tuesday.
If Ireland take another three points in this window, they will take the only automatic qualification spot for Brazil 2027, whilst the guarantee of a top-three finish has given them what promises to be a favourable play-off path in the autumn.
But for Barrett, who scored the famous winner over Scotland fours years ago which led Ireland to the last World Cup, tonight in Cork was special, particularly in the circumstances.
“That was bloody mental I must say but I think how resilient we were that last 20 minutes – them equalising, us going straight back up the other end and scoring, and then (the Netherlands) just making it 2-2 – and you’re just looking for something,” she told the RTÉ Sport panel pitchside.
“Courtney (Brosnan) made some unbelievable saves but in games like that it just takes one chance and thank God I was there at the back post honestly.
Amber Barrett on her self-belief and the resilience to keep going as she netted the winning goal against the Netherlands #rtesport #COYGIG @FIFAWWC
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“I always have this unbelievable self-belief in myself that I only need one chance in any type of game and sometimes it falls for you and sometimes it doesn’t.
“But I think it’s the resilience to keep going and it doesn’t matter what form I’m in, I’m always really confident I’ll have a chance to score and again luckily tonight I was able to get one and it was probably harder to miss than it was to score but I’ll definitely take it.”
Larkin, who netted Ireland’s second goal almost immediately after the Dutch side’s initial equaliser, said that moment ranked as highly as her Nations League play-off winner against Belgium late last year.
“This is definitely up there, oh my god,” she told RTÉ Sport’s Shane Dawson.
“I think that resilience, them scoring, and off the back of it, it was such a good reaction for the team and all the girls definitely kept our heads up and obviously we got that goal, and then they equalised, and then obviously Amber Barrett put it away as she does.”
Player of the match Abbie Larkin on playing on instinct and a belief that they can qualify for the World Cup after the win over Netherlands #rtesport #COYGIG @FIFAWWC
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“We all knew it was going to be tough and that we were the underdogs coming into this game but we’re Irish and we’re going to push through it and we got the result we needed today and all the girls are absolutely buzzing and we’re looking forward to the next game now.”
That next game against France will see Ireland go in as underdogs once again, but when asked if the belief is there to pull off another famous result within the span of a week, Larkin was unequivocal.
“One hundred percent. We always have belief in ourselves, especially after tonight. I think all the girls are going to be buzzing going into the next game,” she said.
“But we need to go back, focus on what we need to work on again on the pitch and take what we’ve done today into the next game.”