Ireland up for World Cup semi-final clash with Spain

Shaw’s girls overcame India on penalities to make it through to the last four and they now meet a Spanish side who they know very well having faced them numerous times in recent years.

The last time the two teams clashed Spain won 7-2 at the European Championships but Shaw believes his side has everything to play for.

“We have played each other a lot over the past four years and we would regularly beat each other,” explained Shaw.

“But there is no real pressure in those games as they are usually just test series or we’d go away to a camp and play against them.

“So when you come into a tournament environment, there is a big difference.

“Last time we played them at the Europeans last year, they beat us 7-2. We had come off the back of our World Cup qualifier in Johannesburg and so we were very fatigued.”

Shaw knows this Spanish side inside out and he is wary of the threat they have in their ranks.

“They are a very strong side, they have a lot of quality in their side, but on our day we can beat them, and they can beat us, we both know that.

“We both won’t fear each other going into the game, and it will be a bit of a strange as we know each other so well. It is going to make for an interesting game and it will be a case of who performs on the day, but there is definitely a win in it so we’re just going to have to prepare as well as we possibly can.”