![\"Crystal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5254759_5_articleinline_3585954.jpg\" "\\"Crystal")
Crystal Palace midfielder Shanade Hopcroft could make her debut against Kazakhstan. Pic: Shauna Clinton\/Sportsfile<\/p>\nAstana\u2019s artificial pitch will provide slippery underfoot conditions for Ireland to avoid a banana skin against Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n
Only a convincing first-leg win for the visitors will reflect the 77 places between the nations in ranking, a clear sign of the chasm of class between the semi-final opponents.<\/p>\n
Captain Katie McCabe, along with fellow banned player Marissa Sheva and Denise O\u2019Sullivan, will return for the second leg in Pairc U\u00ed Chaoimh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Winger Jess Zui was a late withdrawal through injury. By that time, the expectation of Ireland progressing to the final against either Belgium or Poland in late November should be a formality.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese players love to give me a headache, which is always good for a manager,\u201d said Carla Ward, the Ireland manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a World Cup play-off. It doesn\u2019t matter who we\u2019re playing, whether it\u2019s Kazakhstan, France, Brazil, or the Netherlands. This is the business end of it. We prepare for them exactly as we would prepare for anyone else.”<\/p>\n
Kazakhstan qualified for the playoffs by finishing second in League C, two tiers beneath Ireland\u2019s league of League A.<\/p>\n
Crystal Palace midfielder Shanade Hopcroft could make her debut against Kazakhstan. Pic: Shauna Clinton\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have threats on the transition and they are very direct,\u201d she said of the opposition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey look to go in behind quite early, so we have to be prepared for that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we have to prepare for every game as if we\u2019re playing the best in the world, and this is no different. We\u2019ve got to get the job done professionally and with full focus. I have absolute confidence in this group that we will.”<\/p>\n
Ward could hand a debut to Shanade Hopcroft, the recently declared Crystal Palace midfielder.<\/p>\n
“It’s only been a couple of sessions, but she\u2019s looked good. She’s tidy, and she is someone I think will add good value to the squad.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s been a good addition. She\u2019s been knocking on the door for a few years, hasn’t she? I think Vera [Pauw] looked at her, and she\u2019s been knocking on my door for over a year, but it had to be the right time. Now, it\u2019s an opportunity for her.”<\/p>\n
Ward will be selective of her team, mindful of the terrain. Some players are more susceptible to muscle injuries to others on the all-weather pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019ll be some players in new positions but these players step up wherever asked. They want to play for their country and want to learn all the time. Whoever goes in there, I have full belief and confidence they will get the job done.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Astana\u2019s artificial pitch will provide slippery underfoot conditions for Ireland to avoid a banana skin against Kazakhstan. Only…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43,18998],"class_list":["post-649187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-republic-of-ireland-wnt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}