Marissa Sheva has long since mastered the art of picking herself up after setbacks and starting afresh. In that sense, she’s the perfect example for her team-mates as they prepare to take on the Netherlands in Utrecht on Saturday just five days after the bitter disappointment of that defeat by France in Tallaght.
While she was lifted by Ireland’s display against the French, certainly for the first 70 minutes, and insists there are “positives to take from it”, plucky losses, she concedes, count for nothing.
“It is a defeat. We didn’t get any points. That’s what it’s all about. We’re sitting at the bottom of the table at the minute, but there’s a long way to go, five more games. It stings, but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down. I know the mentality we have in this team.”
“The fact that we were up 1-0 against France and are frustrated to not come out with a result just shows the growth of this group – and there has been a lot of growth in the last year. We’ve got every belief that we can go again. But we need to be making sure we see games out a little bit better.”
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Having played in one World Cup, starting the opening game against Australia in 2023 (when she gave away the penalty that decided the game) and coming on against Canada and Nigeria, Sheva would very much like to experience another one.
“We want to go to Brazil more than anything. That’s our goal. We talk about it every day,” she says. “This journey started with all the women who played before us and the group that qualified for the 2023 World Cup. So we are standing on the shoulders of giants.”
It was just over two years ago that Sheva doubted she’d ever play for Ireland again after Eileen Gleeson left her out of one of her Nations League squads. At that point, Sheva’s club career was going nowhere, the 28-year old Pennsylvania native spending the bulk of her time on the bench for Washington Spirit and then Portland Thorns in the NWSL.
But after being left with no club at all for a few months, she was signed by Sunderland in England’s Championship a year ago, where Grace Moloney, Jamie Finn and Izzy Atkinson are team-mates. She’s had regular game-time ever since and her career has been revived.
Carla Ward’s belief in her has been especially striking. Out of the 29 players she has used in her 12 games in charge of Ireland, Sheva has featured in 11, only Anna Patten and Kyra Carusa matching that tally. (Granted, Courtney Brosnan, Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan would have appeared in all 12 but for injuries or suspensions).
She has shown no little resilience, then, in getting her club and international career back on track. Ireland will need to show much the same resolve in Utrecht if they are to get their World Cup qualifying campaign up and running.
