Republic of Ireland women’s football team manager Very Pauw will continue on in the role for an additional two years the FAI has announced this morning.
“Im very excited to stay part of this fantastic environment! The enthusiasm, the professionalism, I’ve never experienced that before in the extent that I’ve experienced it this year because we grow with each other and everybody gives their best” she says.
"There was not much thought to extend this [contract] - I belong to this team still, so I'm delighted we can go on with each other."
Kicking off in the position back in September 2019 the new deal sees Pauw extend her contract to oversee the team in their 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification battle.
Having led the “Girls in Green” to a play-off spot for the European Championships last year, and narrowly missing out 3-1 against a formidable German side, the team put on an encouraging performance throughout the campaign and there is no doubt the Netherlands native is having a colossal constructive impact on the international side.
“It’s wonderful we can keep going with this bunch of players because we all feel that we are not finished with each other”.
“Every game we are playing better and better. Obviously it wasn’t good enough to qualify, but the support from the fans, from the media and also from all my colleagues, my staff and in the first place of course all of the players, it’s been wonderful in that sense” she says.
Pauw applauds the Irish side for their improvements and is optimistic that their potential knows no limits under her reign as she assures everyone that “this team hasn’t reached their ceiling yet and we don’t know where the ceiling is” .
With the support for women’s football growing year on year Pauw talks of the “togetherness” in the strive for her team’s glory amongst staff, players and fans alike as it’s “as if everybody together wants this game to move forward and to go to new heights”.
“I didn’t want to miss them and didn’t want to miss the journey. And obviously they didn’t want me to miss it!” she says.
Peering forward Pauw has made her goals no secret as she formulates plans for the fast approaching World Cup, which she describes as “massive”.
“I believe that we have a special group of players with a desire to become the first Ireland women’s senior team to qualify for a major tournament and I’m looking forward to being part of that.”
While the draw for the Qualifiers is set to take place in April the Ireland manager is hoping for a bit of luck to see her side pave a way to history in September when the games are to start.
“We hope that we get a group in which all the teams can steal points from each other because then your real strength is coming forward and then the right team will qualify” she says.
“The quality of the people around makes me so excited and I have to trust that we get everything out of the Irish players in their very near future”.
