“WELCOME TO INTERNATIONAL football,” Carla Ward thought to herself as the clock ticked down at Tallaght Stadium.
The new Ireland head coach opened her reign with a scrappy 1-0 win over Türkiye last night.
She clenched her fist as the final whistle sounded, embracing her backroom staff — and the three Nations League points Ireland escaped with.
“It was a really special night,” Ward told The 42 afterwards
“I wouldn’t often admit this but there was a little bit of nerves before the game. In the WSL, you know every single thing about every player, you know everything about everyone. This is slightly different. You never really know how it’s going to go.
“You want to get your first three points, but in the last 10, 15 minutes I was thinking, ‘Welcome to international football’. Scrappy, not pretty but most important is you get three points on the board.
“It’s massive. It’s where I want to be, competing on the world stage.”
The former Aston Villa boss got her first taste of it as part of Emma Hayes’ USWNT staff at the Olympic Games last summer, but this was different.
The day itself was calm. She watched Slovenia’s 2-1 win over Greece alongside her fellow coaches in the team hotel, and had a series of “pointless meetings” to pass the afternoon.
“I hate dead time. I’m a little bundle of energy so when we’ve got nothing to do, I struggle, which the staff laugh at me for but that’s just who I am,” Ward grinned.
The excitement — and nerves — kicked in as she boarded the team bus pointed for Dublin 24.
Words were kept to a minimum en route to Whitestown Way, a job to be done after limited time with her new side.
“Being really honest I couldn’t wait for the game to be over to get the first one under my belt.”
A few short years after Ward’s managerial career began as a player-coach with Solihull Moors — with her kit on under her tracksuit on the touchline, although she wouldn’t drop to play at a lower level — here she was leading Ireland into battle.
There could have been some Déja Vu: one outstanding memory from her first-ever game in management was the state of the pitch, and the Tallaght turf was badly cut up.
No excuses. Show time.
Ward said she was learning Amhrán na bhFiann but when the TV camera panned her way, the English coach was steely-eyed and focused as her assistant, Alan Mahon, belted the words out beside her.
It was an emotional moment for the former Ireland international, as everything came full circle. A sentimental flash amidst the business of football.
Ward must have thought of her five-year-old daughter, Hartley, who was back home “with her Ireland shirt on all day and night” after a week of skiing.
And she surely reflected on her journey from the Isle of Wight to the Emerald Isle in those fleeting moments before kick-off.
The 41-year-old always knew she could one day hit these heights.
She is comfortable in the spotlight and dealing with the pressure it brings, but it all ratcheted up the week as she graced the international stage.
Noise has heightened, particularly as the Colin Healy controversy rumbles on, but the new boss appears to have taken it all in her stride.
“It has been intense, it’s been crazy,” Ward, who was animated on the line throughout, said.
“I’m quite a resilient individual that tries to silence as much noise as I possibly can, trying to control the things that I can control, and what I can control is preparing the team, getting around the team. I’ve tried to just focus my energy on these first two games.
“You’re coming into a new job, you want to make sure that those that employed you know that they’ve made the right decision, whether that’s club or country.
“When Türkiye had that chance at the end, you think, ‘They don’t deserve that,’ but if it happens, you feel the pressure straight away. Look, ideally we would have got the second goal and it would have been a little bit more comfortable, but we know that’s football, and I was just delighted to hear the final whistle, to be honest.”
Ward didn’t share exactly where her international managerial bow ranked in her career, but stressed how “massive” her winning start was.
“I’m passionate about leading this group, I’m passionate about leading this country,” the former Villa, Birmingham City and Sheffield United manager enthused.
“I’ve loved it. Being really honest, I’ve had a great time. I joked earlier, said if we win tonight, it feels like we can continue being on holiday camp! I love it, it’s 24/7 and I’m an intense individual that likes to work 24/7. It suits me down to the ground.
“To get off to a good start is huge. Of course me being me, I’ll pick the life out of it and look at every single way we can improve, as the players will want to. This is a really strong group of players that are ambitious, that want to kick on, that want to move forward.
“It won’t be all pats on the backs, it will be how can we make sure we’re better in every single area.”
Welcome to international football, indeed.
It’s simple, we kill the Bettman.