The Irish National Women's Team travelled to Croatia to take part in the Istria cup recently, and in their final match against Costa Rica, Stephanie Roche proved that her wonder strike that almost won the Puskas award wasn't a fluke.
In a post-match interview, Roche stated that she had called for team-mate Denise O'Sullivan to leave the ball that had been swung over from the wing by Diane Cauldwell, and after a great first touch, Roche hit a sweet strike that looped over the Costa Rican 'keeper.
Niamh Reid Burke & Stephanie Roche post match interview - Republic of Ireland v Costa Rica from Football Association of Ireland on Vimeo.
It seemed to be an exciting game against the World Cup finalists for the Irish side, who had to take goalkeeper Emma Byrne off injured, only for replacement Niamh Reid-Burke (also seen in the interview above) to need to step in an immediately save a penalty, which she duly did.
Ireland won the game 2-1 to round off their run int he tournament, and now Roche will return to Texas to play with the Houston Dash, and as the first Irishwoman to head over to the league in the US, here's hoping she can produce a few more strikes like this and cement herself a place in the team.
Via The Irish Times
