ANNE PATTEN blasted the ‘ridiculous’ heat after Ireland lost 4-0 to the USA for the second time in three days.
The hosts earned their 600th international win last night after another dominant performance against the Girls in Green.
But moments after the friendly defeat in Cincinnati, Patten admitted that the humid conditions played a huge factor.
When asked her opinion of the heat inside the TQL stadium in Cincinnati, the 26-year-old Aston Villa defender told RTÉ: “I actually don’t think words can describe it.
“To play with only a two-day break, against players of that quality, in this temperature at this time of day, to be honest, it’s a bit ridiculous.
“But I think you can’t fault anyone’s effort. But it was pretty hard, yeah. As soon as your heart rate goes up it doesn’t come back down because of the heat.
“Your body is just trying to work hard to cool itself down and it can’t do that because the sun is just beating down on you.”
Both friendlies had been arranged to give Carla Ward’s side experience against quality opposition ahead of the Nations League play-off against Belgium in October.
And the five-time World Cup winners duly obliged by replicating their 4–0 victory from Thursday night in Denver.
From the off, the USA were merciless and Ward’s young squad struggled to find any rhythm under sustained pressure.
The visitors were on the back foot from the start as Emma Hayes’s team sizzled in the heat with slick one-touch football.
It was 1–0 after 11 minutes as a smooth one-two move tore through Ireland’s compact defence. Emma Sears sprinted down the right flank and delivered a perfectly-weighted cross to the far post.
Lynn Biyendolo met it first time with a composed side-footed volley that screamed into the top corner.
Despite the lopsided play, Abbie Larkin chipped in with flashes of quality, and Chloe Mustaki punched above her weight at left-back, defending with grit and tenacity.
But it was all USA on the scoreboard and they doubled their lead just before the break.
Just as Ireland seemed poised to head into the interval trailing by only one, fate struck again.
Sears appeared to double the lead, only for Brosnan to produce a brilliant close-range save.
But the rebound fell kindly for Izzy Rodriguez, who powered it home to make it 2-0 at half-time — a cruel echo of the Denver fixture.
The second half kicked off with Ireland making three changes.
Lucy Quinn, Hayley Nolan — who last played in the United States in April 2023 –— and Megan Connolly all joined the action.
MOULTRIE TO COME
Minutes later, a slick pass by 19-year-old Olivia Moultrie opened up space behind the defence. Rodriguez sent in a dangerous cross, but a loose volley gave Ireland a reprieve.
By the 50th minute, Lynn Biyendolo ghosted in behind the defence, nearly catching Brosnan off her line — but the keeper recovered quickly and parried her firm effort to safety.
Minutes later, another probing move saw Hayley Nolan caught out at the back, allowing Tara McKeown to surge into the box. Her cutback to Croix Bethune was decisively blocked.
At 54 minutes, Sears unleashed a dipping strike that flew just over the bar — a near miss that briefly rekindled Ireland’s hopes.
A third goal soon followed as Sam Coffey initiated a slick move by threading a ball into the middle for Yazmeen Ryan.
The pass looked overhit, but Sears kept it alive, finding Moultrie. Moultrie teed up Ryan, who slid home the third goal, putting the result beyond doubt.
A further water break at 70 minutes offered Ireland some respite in the scorching Ohio heat.
But the visitors still could not get hold of the ball.
FINISHING TOUCH
A perfectly-weighted lofted pass caught Ireland’s flat defence off guard and Alyssa Thompson took charge — first with a sharp touch, then rifling a powerful low finish into the net to make it 4–0.
Ward said: “On 22 minutes we had players asking to come off, unfortunately, we couldn’t make those changes, then at half-time, three enforced changes as players were physically fatigued and some unwell.
“In the second half players were almost begging to come off and we couldn’t do anything about it.
“We can’t do anything about the heat, but it is dangerously hot out there and with humidity at 94 per cent, I’ve never felt anything like it.”
