Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe left ‘heartbroken’ by World Cup exit

Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe said she was “heartbroken” after her team’s World Cup last-16 hopes were ended by a 2-1 loss to Canada in Perth in their second group game.

Ireland, who had opened their debut campaign at a major tournament with last week’s 1-0 loss to co-hosts Australia, were on course for an historic victory after McCabe gave them an early lead, scoring direct from a corner in the fourth minute.

But Canada hit back as a Megan Connolly own goal restored parity in first-half stoppage time and Adriana Leon then netted the winner eight minutes into the second half.

With their efforts to respond against the Olympic champions falling short, Vera Pauw’s side, bottom of Group B, were left knowing they will be heading home after facing Nigeria in their final pool match in Brisbane next Monday.

Asked about scoring the first Irish goal at a Women’s World Cup, McCabe said on ITV1: “It’s bittersweet, isn’t it?

“Of course it’s nice to score and get us off to a good start, but it’s the results that matter in this game, at this level, in these type of tournaments. I’m just heartbroken for the girls because I felt like we deserved so much more from the game.

“I think we took a lot of positives from that second half against Australia, decided to be more confident and back ourselves a bit more going forward.

“We know we have the quality and the pace as well, especially on the flanks. We wanted to start the game with a lot of energy, getting in Canada’s face as much as possible and putting them under a lot of pressure, and I felt we did that. It’s just about capitalising on those moments then as well.”

The versatile Arsenal player said it was “an absolute honour and an absolute privilege” to captain the Ireland side, adding: “I’m just so proud of each and every single one of them, staff included.

“We’ve done so much to get here and now it’s about pushing on. We know now we’ve had tournament experience and we’re going to be hungry for more.”

Head coach Pauw said she too was “so proud” of the way her players had performed in their first major tournament.

She said: “For the majority of the first half (against Canada), if you can dominate, and the way that we played with the guts to conquer the first half of the opponent, who are Olympic champions.

“The way that we did it, with the freedom and variety that we tried to bring in, I’m so proud of the players for making that step.”

Pauw, who has been in charge since September 2019, said McCabe “was by far the best player today” and that her team showed they are ready to compete at the highest level.

She added: “During the game I said to (assistant coach) Tom (Elmes): ‘We are equal, if not better’ and that is just tremendous.

“We feel that we have closed the gap, but now winning against those nations is the next step and that is the task that we have. We will qualify more often for (major) finals because this team is too good to not qualify.”