Kyra Carusa says Ireland will not allow Tuesday night’s play-off loss to Wales halt the team’s momentum. Ireland missed out on a place at Euro 2025 after a 2-1 second-leg defeat to the Welsh at the Aviva Stadium. Despite the setback Carusa hopes the hurt can eventually be used to fuel the dressingroom in the years ahead.
And the San Diego Waves player says that was the message Eileen Gleeson and her management team delivered to the players on the pitch afterwards.
“They look at us and how the emotion wears on us and they feel in that way as well, but they need to remind us exactly what I just said, that there is tomorrow and there are still things to be done and there are still things to move forward with,” she said.
“This doesn’t stop momentum for us or the message that we’re pushing, and we’re showing to Ireland that the development of women’s football here, it doesn’t stop here and it won’t stop, this doesn’t deter that in any capacity.
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“I think that was a huge message, to remind us that tomorrow will be tomorrow, the next day will be the next day, and we will be back in and we will go again. It feels devastating (now). But I know it’s like anything in life it’s something that will change you and will help you move forward.”
The questions remain over Gleeson’s future at the helm, but Carusa has praised the work of the current management team.
“Eileen and her staff came in off the back of massive accomplishments for us as a nation and that’s a hard position to come in and difficult to try to pick up and move upward. I think they all have only bolstered us and really drawn us together, and created an environment and reminded us that there’s always a next step and there’s always growth, there’s always next to come.
“I can’t thank them enough for that and it’s really changed a lot in this team, and it’s felt across the board in this team.”
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