“I want business flights to Australia, yeah?!”
Katie McCabe had the honour, on Tuesday night, of becoming the first Irish woman to captain her side to a World Cup final.
The Arsenal star was one of a number of Ireland players that put in a superb shift, at Hampden Park and all through the qualifiers, that culminated in a playoff win over Scotland.
Following the 1-0 Irish victory, Vera Pauw spoke about how well her players did, especially when the amount of injuries that hit the squad were taken into account. Two of the key players missing from that historic outing at Hampden Park were Savannagh McCarthy and Ruesha Littlejohn.
Littlejohn was in Glasgow, though, as she cheered on her Ireland teammates and McCabe, her partner, against the Scots.
Scottish broadcaster Shebahn Aherne travelled to Scotland with Littlejohn, and charted the trip, and a tense match, for a YouTube video. The vlog followed the pair over the course of that fateful day, and night, as Ireland broke Scottish hearts to reach the World Cup.
‘We did it!” – Katie McCabe
The final stages of the video [from 18:35, below] shows Littlejohn going through the wringer as Ireland look to get through six minutes of injury time. Once the final whistle is blown, Aherne finds the Aston Villa striker bent double and shedding some tears of joy.
Back in the stands, McCabe comes up to celebrate with Littlejohn, and her family and friends. The Ireland captain declares, “We did it. We f***ing did it, man!”
Back in 2019, when they were supporting Aviva’s Dublin Pride initiative, Katie McCabe and Ruesha Littlejohn spoke about being a couple that plays together on the international stage.
“The women’s game is a very accepting community,” said McCabe. “You love who you love and you’re not really judged… I’ve been around that in the game since I was a youngster, being part of older teams.”
Related links:
- Ireland make history in Scotland to qualify for first ever World Cup
- FAI apologise for controversial song in Ireland team’s dressing room after World Cup qualification
- Sky Sports presenter asks Ireland star if team ‘need to be educated’ after controversial song
