WHEN it came to selecting the final 23 players for Ireland’s historic crack at the women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, American-born Marissa Sheva simply ticked too many boxes to be ignored.
It didn’t matter that she only joined the Irish set-up after qualification was assured because she offers things Vera Pauw adores in players.
Standing 5ft 3in, Sheva is a bundle of energy, she's physically strong, she can press the opposition, she has pace to get behind enemy lines and has tremendous defensive recovery in her game. She is also mentally tough.
In her college days, the Pennsylvania-born Sheva juggled long distance running and football before concentrating on the latter.
Erica Dambach, Sheva’s coach at Nittany Lions of Penn State before she stepped up to the National Women’s Soccer League [NWSL], was gushing about her former player’s mental toughness.
“I’d bet on Marissa Sheva in any situation,” said Dambach in 2020. “I’ve never experienced anything like it. If you look at the schedule and everything she did, she should have burnt out.
“She’s unlike any player I’ve coached in terms of mental toughness to go 365 days a year. I put her in the top one per cent of players in terms of mental toughness.”
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Sheva initially joined Washington Spirit as a replacement player during COVID but her performances were so good, she was offered a contract to remain with the club, who currently sit in fifth position after 15 games.
The dynamic wide player first hooked up with Vera Pauw’s squad in February of this year, but the 26-year-old had “reached out” to the Dutch coach a year earlier about the prospect of playing for Ireland.
Pauw was immediately interested.
Sheva’s grandparents hail from Donegal and Tyrone and she was steeped in her Irish roots growing up.
She also toured Ireland with her Tyrone-born grandfather in 2015.
“I grew up in the Philadelphia area which has a big Irish American community,” she explains.
“We were part of the Donegal Irish Society and I always felt I was surrounded by my Irishness.
“I decided to reach out to Vera and to the FAI last year to see if there was any interest in me joining camp. I ended up doing my own citizenship and passport process and reached out when I thought I was fit and ready.
“From my first camp [Marbella in February 2023] I felt very welcome. The girls and the staff have been incredible. But it takes time to earn trust from your team-mates and to form those relationships.
“Being based in the States, you’re pretty far from everybody - except for Denise [O’Sullivan], Sinead [Farrelly] and Heather Payne at times [who play in the National Women’s Soccer League in America].
“But over the past couple of camps I’ve become a lot closer to the girls and I only see that improving coming up to the World Cup.”
She made her Irish international debut in the scoreless draw with China in February and featured in the back-to-back games against the USA in April.
Sheva admits she’s still integrating into the Irish squad and sometimes struggles with using ‘we’.
It was against the country of her birth Sheva received her first rollicking from Irish captain Katie McCabe for allegedly not closing down the opponents quickly enough.
Afterwards, Sheva was asked about taking criticism from her captain, she replied: “Which time?” she joked. “Oh yeah, I do remember. I appreciate her communication. We’re still getting used to playing with each other...
“Communication from my wing-back is important so however she gives it to me, I’ll take it.”
It appears Sheva has some convincing to do – inside and outside of the squad - but she’ll be unfazed by the seemingly lukewarm reception she's received in some quarters.
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Former Ireland international and Irish Times columnist Karen Duggan wasn’t impressed with how Sheva acquitted herself in the side’s farewell game against France in Tallaght last week.
“Sheva’s passing range is a concern,” wrote Duggan. A quite damning assessment of any player.
But Sheva is already one of Pauw’s trusted foot soldiers after just four international appearances and is expected to start games or finish them from the bench against World Cup group opponents Australia, Canada and Nigeria later this month.
So what does Sheva think she can offer the Irish team Down Under?
“I think that one thing the NWSL specifically helps players with is, the games are very intense, very athletic and I think sometimes international games can feel that way as well,” Sheva says, who enjoyed a brief spell with Spanish club Deportivo Alaves.
“So, I’d like to think I’m prepared for that. But my goal is to be the best team-mate on and off the field. Whatever role Vera asks me to play, I will do that to the best of my ability – on the field, off the field. I want to be the best team-mate regardless of my own personal circumstances. That’s my biggest goal.”
She adds: “The squad is so deep. There are so many players that could start. I think that raises everybody’s level. From my first camp in Marbella, I was in awe of the players... I get excited to get to play with the quality of players here.
“This is a tremendous group, not just technically, but off the field as well. They are really a resilient group of girls and when you have those intangibles off the field, the sky is the limit. I can’t wait to see what we’re capable of in Australia.”
It's safe to say no Irish player will have played in front of 82,000, most of them passionate Aussies, next Thursday morning (11am Irish time) in their World Cup opener.
But it hasn't stopped Sheva trying to visualise what it will be like when the Irish players walk out into the Stadium Australia in Sydney to face the 'Matildas' in six days' time.
“It’ll be tough because I’ve never experienced anything like this and I may never experience anything like it again.
“I want to try to be super present for all of it. I want to take all of it in and when we set foot onto that field in front of 80,000 people, I don’t want the situation to overtake me.
“I want to be able to perform the way I do in training and I don’t want to be fearful of the crowd or the stage. I’ve been working with the sports psychologist on visualisation of what we’ll experience in Sydney and I think that will help me.
“Visualisation is so important. It's an incredible tool. In my opinion, anything you can do to make yourself one per cent better on the day, why not try it? It can’t hurt.”
With Vera Pauw showing unwavering faith in her and Erica Dambach's glowing endorsement ringing in her ears, Marissa Sheva is quite literally ready to take on the world.
