Vera Pauw joined Off The Ball this evening to discuss the 'magic' of Republic of Ireland beating Greece in a crucial Euro 2021 qualifier.

The Ireland women's team boss joined us to discuss their 1-0 win on Thursday, which puts them in a great position to qualify for the tournament before playing Montenegro this Wednesday.

"We have been working the whole week on that ball because we knew that the goalkeeper always stayed on her line and they could not defend the area in between. They lost their opponents with the second ball.

"We set it up, we trained it and they sorted it out amongst themselves. When you score in the way that you have set up like that, it is just magic.

"Especially when it is the only goal of the game, it is just so rewarding."

As for Montenegro, Pauw gave us an insight into what they expect from the Balkan side this week.

"Montenegro is probably the weakest team in this group. They play with five at the back, four in the middle and - let us say - one-half striker.

"It is often that they don't even get out of their own half, even if you would let them do so.

"It is a wall that we will be playing against, we need a lot of variety and a lot of pressure on the goal to break it.

"That is what we are preparing for."

As for the mental preparations of such a task, Pauw elucidated just what she has been training the players to expect from a mindset perspective.

"It is getting the game plan and strategy in teamwork, so that you can get everyone knows what you can expect from each other and everyone is on the same page in the way that we want to attack that wall.

"We are not totally ready yet, but we will be by Wednesday!"

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