‘It’s devastating. I’m very much aware I have broken dreams’ – Vera Pauw

Although there will be no major surprises when her 23-woman squad is finalised at the end of this month, Pauw has already telephoned many players individually to deliver the impending good, or bad, tidings.

“I had to stop halfway to be honest,” said the manager. “Some expected it but I was aware I was breaking dreams. But I think the tightest decisions are still to come.

“It’s devastating. I’m very much aware I have broken dreams and it will have an impact on careers also. We’ve not been taken this lightly as I said all the time.

“Every single player was in the table every single day. It’s elite sport. You have to make choices. I wish I could bring them all. We can’t.

“So believe it or not, with all the clubs and everybody on Monday, I had to make more than 75 phone calls.

“But the shift was done and I’ve called every single player again this week to see how they are doing. And we have offered them support because it can have an impact on their moves and the way forward.

“The tightest decisions will come still. The players that are closest, of course also players will drop out when the four other players come in. Those are the ones that are tightest.

“This squad of 27 is built up on back-up. We have a few issues, you’ve all been reading it, it’s all been in the papers. But Leanne Kiernan and Niamh Fahey, it’s more building up from where they are because they are fully fit. Lily Agg is also fit to start her build-up.”

Pauw today named what is effectively a 27-woman squad for a June 22 friendly against Zambia in Tallaght, albeit with four others - captain Katie McCabe and US-based trio Denise O’Sullivan, Sinead Farrelly and Marissa Sheva – set to join before a July 6 date with France. So too perhaps a fit-again Aoife Mannion.

Ireland’s World Cup squad of 23 players – plus three additional travelling reserves – will already have been named on June 29 so Zambia may effectively be a final trial for those straining to make the cut.

However, with Mannion optimistic about a Monday scan on her knee, it seems unlikely that there will be any dramatic shift on Pauw’s thinking, presuming players such as Liverpool duo Niamh Fahey and Leanne Kiernan can confirm their fitness after lengthy absences.

“Every player that comes into the camp has the same chances,” added Pauw.

“We have to make our final decisions on the basis of what they show in camp. That is for everybody. Of course we all know there’s a few that are pretty sure about their place, but for Erin McLaughlin or any other player that’s on the fringe of the squad, it’s completely open.

“The proof of that is Lucy Quinn. In the USA game, she was coming in from a standby list but in football, the tactical part needs to drop, the penny needs to drop and with her it dropped just in time and she became Player of the Match - and at her club, four times Player of the Match. It can happen like that with any player and we stay open until the last second of the decision for that to happen.”

Ireland will alternate between an informal training base in UCD and their normal match preparation HQ in Abbottstown from this Monday ahead of the Tallaght friendly encounters.

The Irish squad will then travel to their Brisbane base with a behind-closed-doors date against Colombia penned in for July 14.

They then open the World Cup against co-hosts Australia six days later at Sydney’s 83,500-capacity Stadium Australia ahead of Group B dates with Olympic champions Canada in Perth, and Nigeria in Brisbane.

McCabe may still feature against Zambia on June 22, although Arsenal are tied by the restrictions of the European Clubs Association which are denying countries access to their leading players until June 23, a day after the Zambia game.

As it stands, she may be allowed to be freed for duty either on June 19 – three days before Zambia – or else June 23, a day after.

“Everything is related to the health and safety of the players. If she has not been playing football she’s having the load the same as the squad. They do have an individual programme but she’s not allowed to come into camp.

“The plan is to not play her. But we need to see how she comes in of course. Katie is Katie. With Katie you never know.

“We train with live heart rate monitors, and it’s related to how fast she recovers from explosive actions if she will play against Zambia, so we will see. The plan is to not play her and we’ll see when she gets in.”

IRELAND SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Grace Moloney (Reading), Megan Walsh (Brighton & Hove Albion), Sophie Whitehouse (Lewes).

Defenders: Harriet Scott (Birmingham City), Áine O'Gorman (Shamrock Rovers), Louise Quinn (Birmingham City), Niamh Fahey (Liverpool), Diane Caldwell (Reading), Hayley Nolan (London City Lionesses), Claire O’Riordan (Celtic), Megan Campbell (Liverpool), Chloe Mustaki (Bristol City), Tara O'Hanlon (Peamount United).

Midfielders: Katie McCabe (Arsenal), Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Megan Connolly (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ruesha Littlejohn (Aston Villa), Jamie Finn (Birmingham City), Ciara Grant (Hearts), Lily Agg (London City Lionesses), Sinead Farrelly (NY/NJ Gotham), Lucy Quinn (Birmingham City), Erin McLaughlin (Peamount United).

Forwards: Heather Payne (Florida State University), Leanne Kiernan (Liverpool), Abbie Larkin (Shamrock Rovers), Kyra Carusa (London City Lionesses), Amber Barrett (Potsdam Turbine), Marissa Sheva (Washington Spirit), Saoirse Noonan (Durham WFC)