As the new issue of Hot Press wings its way to shops all over Ireland, the Ireland Women's National Team are gearing up for their sold-out international friendly against France this evening – kicking off at 8pm at Tallaght Stadium. It's one of the "most important" parts of the Irish team's preparation for the Women's World Cup, according to manager Vera Pauw, who also spoke to Hot Press at length, in a remarkably insightful interview in the new issue, which will be published tomorrow.

The feature forms part of a special Women's World Cup preview in the new issue – featuring interviews with Lily Agg, Heather Payne and Vera Pauw, as well as analysis, predictions and more.

In her interview with Paul O'Mahony, Pauw addresses the ongoing controversy surrounding allegations from her time at Houston Dash. Back in December, a report by the US National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) claimed that during her time with Houston Dash (immediately prior to her Ireland stint), Pauw attempted to exert excessive control over her players’ eating habits. She denied any wrongdoing. This week, fresh allegations emerged in a piece in The Athletic. Speaking at a pre-match press conference yesterday, she asked, "How can you defend yourself against a lie?" – and stated that "the allegations are false."

As a result of the December report, Pauw is banned from working in the NWSL unless she accepts responsibility – yet the expected hullabaloo when she brought her Ireland team to play the US in two friendly matches recently failed to materialise. Did she consult with anyone about her strategy for addressing the report?

“No, but others said I should sit in a corner and do nothing and it would all blow over. No way!” she says in her Hot Press interview. “The views I have held in my life and now these stories being told, by one or two players, just lies – and nobody’s running my story! If I would have done it, then I could have said, ‘Is that not the task of a coach?’ But I hadn’t even done it because I protect my players always from everything.

"I called the president of Houston Dash," she adds, "and I said, ‘Tell me, if there is one moment that you think that we did not understand each other’ and he said, ‘No. The only thing that I can remember is that you always protect your players and that you always explain to your players what the next step is. You were always there for the players, even at the expense of yourself’.

“The captain was coming back from an ACL injury and I could have used her much earlier because she wanted to play, but I used the return to play protocol to the extreme, because she could not rupture her ACL again. And that was my responsibility. And he even came to the training ground with her to talk with me and I told her the same thing, that I was not going to play her. ‘I am protecting you,’ I said. She was the best player and I would have liked to play her, but I knew it was not good for her. So, all the ridiculous things that were put into that report… I was so angry, I said, ‘Come over here, ask me anything you want to ask’.”

28 June 2023; Republic of Ireland manager Vera Pauw speaking to media, at the UCD Bowl in Dublin, after announcing her squad for the upcoming FIFA Women's World Cup 2023. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Vera Pauw also discusses the issue of whether it is acceptable for anyone to throw accusations at a person – and place the onus on them to prove their innocence. The interview also sees the Ireland manager address comments from critics that she is "hung up" on the fitness of players.

“It’s the kind of fitness,” she clarifies. “Players need to be football ready. What many clubs and players used to do, and some still do, for instance, is a lot of weight-lifting. What I am looking for is the ‘snappiness’, dynamics, being able to play an intense game – and the ones who can do that are not usually the ones with the biggest muscles.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Pauw speaks about her style of coaching, the 'Up the Ra' controversy, squad selections, the Netherlands, the League of Ireland, and the impact of menstrual cycles on players’ physical and mental performance – and how it might be a factor in players picking up injuries.

She was also asked about signing a new contract with Ireland beyond the World Cup.

“Of course we have spoken about it, but I have had a very tough year, and it’s still not over," she says. "But I have grown stronger from it. I feel free. We trust each other. We don’t need to have an early decision. Whatever decision is coming, it is based on mutual respect and not that one side wants it more than the other, or something. They’ve given me the time that I need to be ready for it.”

To coincide with the Women's World Cup, Hot Press is releasing a new single, 'Come On Ireland (Giving Us The Right To Dream)’, by Zrazy – out tomorrow. The track also features President Michael D. Higgins and broadcaster/vlogger Shebahn Aherne – twin sister of Ireland international Ruesha Littlejohn.

You can read Vera Pauw's full, powerfully articulated interview in the current issue of Hot Press – in shops on Friday, and available to order online below: