Sinead Farrelly was rested overnight but the remarkable renaissance of her sporting life will resume on Irish soil this summer.

In Austin last Saturday, the 33-year-old midfielder completed a deeply emotional debut for the country she qualifies though her Cavan father, Sean.

And, while she expresses excitement at the prospect of featuring in a World Cup this summer, the one-time USA prospect admits that there remains a swirling chamber of doubt and anxiety accompanying her return.

There is no adequate measure of the complexity of reasons why this should be the case.

Two years ago, Farrelly took the extraordinarily courageous decision to expose the culture of widespread sexual coercion and abuse that had prompted her to retire from football in 2016.

In a piece with “The Athletic”, she detailed the extensive and lengthy instances of a forced sexual relationship with a former coach, Paul Riley.

She claimed he had coerced her into kissing a team member, Mana Shim, amongst other things.

Riley has denied having sex with any players but a subsequent investigation resulted in his expulsion, while other coaches were also banned for life as a report prompted by her allegations uncovered widespread wrongdoing.

In a grim irony, a separate report commissioned at the time accused Ireland coach Vera Pauw of various abuses which were not sexual in nature, but included body-shaming and excessive controlling behaviour.

Pauw vigorously rejects all the charges which effectively ban her from coaching in the US.

She was not accused of sexual impropriety, never before coached Farrelly and, though sanctioned, was not among those barred for life.

But like Farrelly, she carries her own personal history of being a victim of serious sexual abuse; she is still questing justice more than 30 years later.

“Sinead trusts me,” Pauw told us last week, on the eve of Farrell’s remarkable debut. “She trusts the truth.”

Farrelly, still coming to terms with a whirlwind week, is keen to take a measured approach, where her instinctive excitement at what may happen in the future is tempered by the daily reality of dealing with her fraught past.

“I think we’re still figuring that out,” she says.

“Obviously it takes time to build that trust. I’ve only been here for my fourth day. That takes time.

“Us talking prior, we weren’t like in depthful conversations or anything.

“We checked in about stuff but there’s something about playing for someone and their team and representing. That’s going to take time. For me, you gotta take belief and carry it.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do this unless I was able to get that off my chest and get that story out because that healing, and the liberation from that had to occur before I could ever play again, so that was a huge catalyst.

“It hadn’t been on my radar to play soccer again. It was just last July that I decided and then at that time I didn’t know where I could get to.

“And then when I decided to play in the league here, I started talking to Vera and then I was on the radar.

“I was living a life back in California doing God Knows what. And then the second I was really desiring to go back to soccer again, I knew this was an option.

“Honestly this whole journey back to soccer for me has been pretty wild. And so I just had to stay grounded, and present, one day at a time and one step at a time. And not get too ahead of myself.

“I’m very hopeful and excited about it and at the same time I’m just trying to take things one at the time. I have to be healthy, that’s the most important thing.

“For me especially taking so much time off and then coming back into a game scenario. I’m really monitoring my load and not stepping into it because of being over-excited and stuff.

“I would be so pumped to go to a World Cup. I’m not attaching to any outcome. I just want to enjoy myself and continue to see how things play out.”

For her part, Pauw is keen to manage Farrelly both emotionally and physically; it would have been the easy option to play such a supreme footballer in last night’s second friendly but there is a bigger picture at play.

“We are in daily contact with her coach because this situation is a bit special. Together we have a programme set up and we will go into the details next week to get her fitter and ready for the World Cup.

“She brought us a calmness and a little bit of time for the players to get into position and then because of that all the players are playing at a higher level.”

And all the players are appreciative of what Farrelly brings to the squad.

"She is a really great player and a great asset to us,” says Megan Connolly.

"All of the girls are really fond of her. She has come in and really adapted.

"Everyone has been really welcoming. I hope it has been easy for her to feel warm and welcoming from everyone.

"As Vera says, she bring something really different to us. We want to grow as a team and be in a great position come July.”

Her Gotham team-mate Kristie Mewis, is also wishing her well.

"She is so good on the ball, you cannot get it away from her. Even when you know what she’s about to do, she somehow wriggles out of it.

"And after everything that she’s been through, I mean she’s just incredible and inspiration to all of us.”