Sweden boss lavishes praise on ‘angry’ Katie McCabe: ‘She is one of my favourite players’

McCabe scored against the Swedes in a 1-1 draw in Gothenburg two years ago, a strike that slightly dampened the Swedish World Cup qualification party

“I would say that McCabe is one of my favourite players because she is typical for the way to play,” said the Swedish boss after his side’s training session today.

“She’s one of the best players in Arsenal and she plays with passion, she plays with strength, she plays with good technique.

“What I like also is she is a little bit of a winner. You can say angry, but I like it. She can’t be in my team so we have to handle that.”

McCabe completed a strenuous trek to the southern hemisphere and back in the last week for a money-grabbing Arsenal friendly against Melbourne but will play tomorrow.

AC Milan striker Kosovare Asslani, who scored for the Swedes in Gothenburg, has dismissed any focus on her counterpart; her own side are struggling with a slew of Arsenal absentees, spearheaded by Stina Blackstenius.

“They have a really aggressive way of playing, so we are not talking about specific players, even though we know their qualities,” she said, brushing aside the focus on McCabe. “We’re expecting a 100% Ireland.

“I mean it is a team that plays with a lot of heart, I feel like that is how the Irish national team like to play, play with a lot of heart.

“I think the whole team has a lot of qualities. It is about winning games and how do you win with the team that you have. And that is the way they have been playing.

“But we are also a national team that like to play physical, that is one of our traits as well, so that is why I remember from Gothenburg.

“Ireland are a team that like to play aggressive in their defensive line, they like to defend low, but at the same time, they also like to counter-attack and use their speed in that part, so that is something we have to look out for.

“But the most important, and the number one thing, is a physical battle. That is what I remember from that game. We are prepared for a tough game.

“That is going to be really important tomorrow because if you don’t win the physical battle, you won’t win the game regardless of whether we have better technical players. If we are not physical, we won’t win.”

Sweden are aiming to reel in group favourites England and France in a bid to seal automatic qualification from this Nations League group – even if, in all likelihood, those who do not will qualify via play-offs.

Boss Gerhardsson knows that his side cannot afford to drop points, as they did in that Gothenburg draw in April 2022, months after securing a narrow Dublin win thanks to Louise Quinn’s own goal.

“I remember when they scored they had a low defence and we had some problems then,” he said.

“We’d some good substitutes that came in and we got a good equaliser that made us qualify for the World Cup.

“As it was when we played here, in Tallaght, it’s a physical game and it’s going to be tomorrow also I think.

“With set-pieces and things like that, transitions, that’s going to be important. We don’t really know how the Irish team will get into this game.

“I think we both want to win the game to get a little bit closer to England and France. It’s an interesting game.”