Striker Kyra Carusa says the Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2025 play-off defeat by Wales “feels like it takes the air out of your lungs”.
After a 1-1 draw in Cardiff in the first leg, Wales went two goals up in Dublin through Hannah Cain’s penalty and Carrie Jones’ well-taken strike.
Anna Patten, whose handball led to the penalty, headed the Irish back into the game but Wales held on to qualify for their first major tournament.
While the Welsh players celebrated, the Republic of Ireland players fell to their knees and the raw emotion was evident as they missed the opportunity to qualify for a first Euros, which would have backed up their first World Cup appearance last year.
“It feels devastating. It literally feels like it takes the air out of your lungs and I’m not really able to describe it other than that,” said San Diego Waves forward Carusa.
“As a professional, you have these moments and you move forward and continue on.
“This does pass, but it does reflect and change what you do moving forward. For now, it’s just devastating.”
Penalty decision ‘rattled’ us – Littlejohn
In a raw and strikingly honest interview with RTE after the match, midfielder Ruesha Littlejohn admitted the decision to award Wales a penalty “rattled” the Republic of Ireland, who “thought we were going there [to the Euros]”.
The 34-year-old added “the whole team is devastated” about the result and they were “punished” for not taking their chances.
The cagey and tense nature of the first leg followed the sides to Dublin for the decisive fixture.
Denise O’Sullivan crashed an effort off the crossbar in the first half, but a key moment came five minute after the restart when Spanish referee Marta Huerta de Aza was after Anna Patten handled the ball with an outstretched arm while jumping for a header in the area.
Play had continued before it was halted for a VAR review, and Cian calmly slotted home the penalty.
Things went from bad to worse for Eileen Gleeson’s side as Jones rounded off a swift break to double Wales advantage.
Although Patten netted late on, Wales survived the eight minutes of injury time to spark wild celebrations in Dublin.
“You don’t think about those moments. Honestly, you see it back and it’s dreadful,” Littlejohn said about the penalty decision.
“Patsy [Patten] has gone up to head the ball and it hits her arm. I don’t know how you jump these days in football.
“I don’t know if it’s a new rule where you have to jump with your arms by your side.”
Littlejohn added the hosts struggle to regain momentum following the decision as they “just fell short”.
“That’s been a tough one for us to take and they’ve built on that. We’ve still had chances but we didn’t do enough.
“We gave it our all to try and get another one back. If I’m being honest I think it rattled us a bit.
“None of us seen it coming and it took us a bit to get to grips and get back to the game plan.”
‘We need to change our style’
When asked about the disappointment of missing out on a place at a first Euros, Littlejohn said the Irish thought “we were all going there [to the finals in Switzerland]”.
“We gave it our all but it’s not good enough, so we’re only going to watch now.”
While Littlejohn said now wasn’t the time to reflect on her own future, a sentiment echoed by manager Gleeson whose contract expires following the campaign, the midfielder pointed to changed required in grassroots football.
“If I’m being honest, in Irish football we need to go into grassroots here and need to change our game and change our style. You look at the best teams and they are all so comfortable on the ball.
“They want the football and they want to play. That’s everyone in the team and that’s the journey that we’re on now. I think it’s going to start from the young ones coming through.
“We know we can be hard and be resilient, we put our bodies on the line and we’ve got Megan’s [Campbell] throw and big girls who can win headers, but we need to do more if we want to consistently get to these tournaments.”
