Amber Barrett dedicates FIFA World Cup qualifying goal to the "ten beautiful souls in Creeslough"

The Republic of Ireland women's national football team last night qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first ever time in a 1-0 win against Scotland.

Amber Barrett dedicated her winning goal to the "ten beautiful souls in Creeslough" after bringing the team their victory in Glasgow.

26-year-old Barrett came on as a substitute against Scotland in the 65th minute at Hampden Park, in the all-important play-off for the 2023 finals. Barrett latched onto a pass from Denise O'Sullivan before scoring the historic winning goal in the 1-0 triumph.

Immediately after scoring, Barrett's celebration was in honour of the ten people who passed away in the explosiong at a service station in Creeslough, Donegal.

Wrapped in her native flag, the Donegal women clutched her Player of the Match Award, emotionally telling RTÉ Sport that the tragic incident had been close to her thoughts due to her close connections to the area.

"I know Creeslough like the back of my hand. Both my grandparents were Creeslough-born and bred and I spent my whole upbringing there in the summers and Christmases. Now every year I go back. From football I go to my uncle who's still living down in Creeslough," Barrett said.

"I know people who died in the tragedy, I know people who were affected by the tragedy, I know people who were first at the scene at the tragedy and I've not been able to put it into words.

"There's been a sombreness about me the last few days. This is the best day of my life in terms of what we've done for football but when you put it into perspective, we don't scratch the surface of what happened over there on Friday and this result, that game, that goal, this award, I'm dedicating it to those ten beautiful souls who unfortunately perished on Friday, for all their families because I know they touched their lives.

"They certainly touched ours and this is for Creeslough, this is for Donegal, this is for Ireland."

The winning goal from Barrett came about 20 minutes from full time, requiring a solid thought process as she raced around the pitch.

'This is for all the young kids growing up - now they have something to dream for'

Wrapped in her Donegal flag, goal hero Amber Barrett speaks to @Corktod

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"Always take your first touch across the defender and I think my first touch took me away (from goal) after that," the star player said.

"I did the old reliable and just big-toed it. I just put it into the corner and the one thing going through my head as I was running through was the keeper doesn't come off her line so I couldn't chip her, so that ruled out the one thing I wanted to do. So I did the only thing I wanted to do then and scored."

The 20 minutes following the goal brought a tense finale as the Irish side made every effort to hold on to their lead, all the while the magnitude of their achievement was slowly sinking in. The impact and importance of this win for future generations was not lost on the Player of the Match.

"It was the longest 20 minutes of my life when that goal went in," Barrett said.

"I kept checking the clock every 30 seconds and it seemed like 10 seconds were going. But I've said it 100 times since the game finished, I do not know what we've just done. I can't believe it.

"This is for all the young kids growing up. Now they have something to dream for. I'm so happy to be part of this team."