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Vera Pauw has called on the Football Association of Ireland to reach a decision on her future as Republic of Ireland coach ahead of the team’s final World Cup match against Nigeria. Pauw’s contract is up at the end of the tournament, with Ireland having already been eliminated following defeats to Australia and Canada in their first two games. That means Monday’s final Group B fixture in Brisbane could be her last game in charge if a decision is made not to keep her on. She has repeatedly stated that she hopes to continue in the role to try to lead them to the European Championship finals in Switzerland in 2015. The 60-year-old, who was appointed in 2019 and has led the Republic to their first major tournament finals in Australia and New Zealand, has been the subject of allegations of misconduct dating back to her time managing Houston Dash in the National Women’s Soccer League. “Yes,” she replied when asked whether the players deserved to know whether their coach would be staying. “My situation has not changed. “I think we have a fantastic bond in our team. That has been shown all over the four years.” Opponents Nigeria were conquerors of co-hosts Australia in their previous game and will advance to the last-16 if they avoid defeat against Pauw’s side. Ireland need to win and hope that Australia lose to Canada if they are to have any hope of finishing their debut tournament off the bottom of the group. “We have a fantastic game tomorrow to play,” she added. “Nigeria are ranked 52 (by FIFA) but we all agree now that they are so, so strong. “They are physically strong, they are skilful and extremely fast so there is a huge task on our plate. I want to concentrate on the game. “That game is crucial for us, for our feeling, our pride and for the tournament.” What we have achieved in the past two or three years under Vera has been amazing defender Megan Connolly Defender Megan Connolly praised the strides made by the team during Pauw’s four-year tenure, but said ultimately the decision on whether or not she remained in the job was outside of the players’ control. “Obviously, it’s not my decision,” she said. “What we have achieved in the past two or three years under Vera has been amazing. “I think she helped us get to this point and I can only speak from my own personal experience and Vera has been great for me, but it’s not my decision.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Saudi Arabia’s spending not a problem for Premier League, says Erik ten Hag Erik ten Hag: Manchester United must leap forward in coming year Former Wales captain and coach Clive Rowlands dies aged 85

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Gareth Southgate focused on England’s important point and a valuable learning experience after admitting his side did not “quite click” in attack in the Euro 2024 qualifying draw against Ukraine. Having won their first four Group C matches on the road to next summer’s tournament in Germany, Saturday saw them fail to win a European Championship qualifier for just the second time in 23 attempts. Ukraine, playing on the road due to the ongoing Russian invasion in their homeland, took the lead through skipper Oleksandr Zinchenko to the delight of the partisan crowd in Wroclaw, Poland. England levelled before half-time through Kyle Walker’s first international goal on his 77th appearance for the national team, but Southgate’s side could not find a winner as they struggled for attacking fluidity and a cutting edge. “The reality is we’re not going to win every game by fours and sevens as we’ve done in this qualifying campaign,” the England boss said after Saturday’s 1-1 draw. “That was a really good test – away from home, very passionate atmosphere, quite a few changes forced from the last game. “For people like Marc Guehi, for instance, his first experience of the game like that with England, which he came through really strongly. “So, sometimes, especially with attacking play, it doesn’t quite click. We know that the patterns that we worked during the week are what we always do, so it’s not that we approach the game in a different way. “We tried to refresh things to give them a different sort of problem but today our forward play bar the goal and probably Bukayo’s effort that hit the bar wasn’t at the level that it has been in our previous games.” The Bukayo Saka attempt that was tipped onto the bar by Ukraine goalkeeper Georgiy Bushchan was the closest England came to a winner on a night where they were often passive in possession and toothless in attack. “I think what I liked was the control of the game that we had when you come into an intense atmosphere like there was,” Southgate said in the bowels of the Tarczynski Arena. “I thought we played with real composure up until the final third and then I think by the time we scored the goal we’d had over 70 per cent of the ball but that was our first attempt on target. “So clearly, most of our attacking play wasn’t at the level that we would have hoped it to be. But I thought given the circumstances and the importance of the point in terms of qualification and coming from behind when the crowd are full and the opposition have something to hang on to. We tried to refresh things to give them a different sort of problem but today our forward play bar the goal and probably Bukayo’s effort that hit the bar wasn't at the level that it has been in our previous games Gareth Southgate “It’s a very important point for us and we’ve now played the two best ranked teams away from home and we’ve got four points from those two games.” Despite the frustrating draw, it still remains a case of when rather than if England qualify for the Euros. Southgate’s men now turn their attention to their friendly away to old foes Scotland on Tuesday, when Ukraine travel to Italy for a key clash in the fight for qualification. Ukraine head coach Sergey Rebrov said: “The atmosphere was really great – simply amazing. A big thank you to our fans. I thanked my players for their performance, especially in defence. “It is very difficult to stop such good attacking players as England have, but we did it on many occasions. This is a satisfactory result – another step towards reaching the finals.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Talking points ahead of Republic of Ireland’s crucial clash with Netherlands Fit, healthy and firing – Andy Farrell hails Johnny Sexton’s Ireland comeback George North still loving ‘wicked’ World Cup life on eve of fourth tournament

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